President Donald Trump has commuted the sentence of former campaign adviser Roger Stone, who was sentenced to more than three years in prison for witness tampering and lying to Congress, a Bloomberg report reads.
In a lengthy statement, the White House denounced the decision of the prosecutors for convicting Stone on ‘process-based’ charges in a ‘hoax’ Russia investigation that led to the president’s impeachment. The commutation means that while Stone’s conviction will stand and he will have a criminal record, he will not have to go to prison.
Stone was expected to report to prison on July 14. Stone still can appeal the conviction and Trump can grant him a pardon later. In reaction to this move by President Trump, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said, “President Trump has engaged in countless acts that are both self-serving and destructive to our democracy while in office, but commuting the sentence of Roger Stone, a crony who lied and obstructed our investigation to protect Trump himself, is among the most offensive to the rule of law and principles of justice.”
Bill Russo, a spokesman for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, condemned the decision. “President Trump has once again abused his power, releasing this commutation on a Friday night, hoping to yet again avoid scrutiny as he lays waste to the norms and the values that make our country a shining beacon to the rest of the world,” Russo said.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation had concluded that there wasn’t any evidence to establish that the campaign and Russian operatives had conspired to interfere with the election, including through the WikiLeaks release of more than 19,000 emails hacked by Russia from the Democratic National Committee. Trump said that he had avoided intervening until Stone had exhausted all his avenues for an appeal.
Trump had always scorned at the Russia investigation and said that it was targeted at Stone, his former campaign chair Paul Manafort and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
The Stone commutation unfolded as another former Trump associate, Michael Flynn, is fighting to stay out of prison.
