Thread by @weareoversight

There are so many stories about corruption in the Trump administration, it’s easy for it to become normalized.

But Trump’s commutation of Roger Stone’s sentence is unbelievably corrupt.

Let’s take a step back and review exactly how unparalleled this is.

After working in politics for nearly 50 years, Stone served as an informal adviser and media surrogate for President Trump’s first campaign. He left in August 2015. Trump claimed he fired Stone although Stone said he quit.

As Wikileaks released emails of Hilary Clinton’s campaign manager John Podesta that had been stolen by Russian intelligence, Stone publicly and privately said he had inside knowledge of the leaks.

Documents showed Stone was in contact with Julian Assange, Wikileak’s founder, and that he told Trump that Wikileaks would release Clinton campaign emails in advance.

buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonl…

After Trump’s election, the House Intelligence Committee launched an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and they questioned Stone. Stone repeatedly lied about his attempts to contact WikiLeaks.

Stone even tried to stop an associate from testifying by threatening to steal his service dog. Stone told the associate to “do a ‘Frank Pentangeli,’” a reference to a mobster who lied to Congress in the movie The Godfather.

In other words, a Trump campaign adviser was involved with the release of emails stolen by a foreign government in an effort to hurt a political opponent. When investigated, he lied to Congress and threatened an associate to obstruct the investigation.

As part of Robert Mueller’s investigation, Stone was indicted for witness tampering and obstruction and lying to Congress. In November 2019, after a trial, Stone was found guilty of both.

In February, Justice Department career prosecutors recommended a sentence of 7 to 9 years imprisonment for Stone.

Trump tweeted his displeasure at the prosecution team’s recommendations, calling it a “miscarriage of justice.”

Then, in a highly unusual move, DOJ political leadership overruled that recommendation, advocating for a lighter sentence, prompting 4 of the prosecutors to abruptly withdraw from the case.

nytimes.com/2020/02/11/us/…

Trump responded by tweeting his “congratulations” to Attorney General William Barr for “taking charge of a case that was totally out of control and perhaps should not have even been brought.” He also attacked the federal judge presiding over the case, Amy Berman Jackson.

Also in February, Jessie Liu, the U.S. attorney who had earlier overseen the Stone prosecution — and whose nomination to a Treasury position Trump suddenly pulled — resigned from the administration.

More than 2,000 former DOJ employees signed an open letter demanding Barr resign for approving the sentencing.

washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

On February 20, Stone was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

He was set to report to prison at the end of June, but a judge allowed an extension until July 14 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, Stone publicly pushed for Trump to commute his sentence, saying: "He knows I was under enormous pressure to turn on him. It would have eased my situation considerably. But I didn't."

On Friday, Trump commuted Stone’s sentence and tweeted his congratulations to Stone.

So, after working with a foreign government to help Trump’s campaign, Stone lied to Congress to cover for Trump and was convicted of doing so. Trump’s DOJ reversed the prosecutors’ sentencing recommendation, then finally Trump commuted Stone’s sentence.

Trump protected the person who lied to protect him. Even by the low standards of this administration, that’s unbelievably corrupt.

We’ve been using public records to fight this type of corruption. In February, we requested records of communications that top DOJ officials, including Barr, had about the Stone case, including with the White House or with the prosecution team.

americanoversight.org/american-overs…

We’re also seeking written documentation or approval for DOJ ’s decision to depart from the prosecutors’ sentencing guidelines.

americanoversight.org/document/foia-…

We’ve also been investigating the politicization of the Justice Department since early 2017. You can learn more about our ongoing work here:

americanoversight.org/investigation/…