Trump commutes sentence of Roger Stone days before prison term set to begin

“Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Grant of Clemency commuting the unjust sentence of Roger Stone, Jr.,” read a statement from the White House Office of the Press Secretary. Unlike with a pardon, a commutation does not erase a criminal record.

Stone, 67, had been ordered to surrender to prison on Tuesday. His emergency appeal to extend his July 14 surrender date because of the coronavirus was rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit earlier in the evening Friday.

The White House statement said Stone “would be put at serious medical risk” if sent to prison.

“He has appealed his conviction and is seeking a new trial. He maintains his innocence and has stated that he expects to be fully exonerated by the justice system,” the statement said. “Mr. Stone, like every American, deserves a fair trial and every opportunity to vindicate himself before the courts. The President does not wish to interfere with his efforts to do so. At this time, however, and particularly in light of the egregious facts and circumstances surrounding his unfair prosecution, arrest, and trial, the President has determined to commute his sentence. Roger Stone has already suffered greatly. He was treated very unfairly, as were many others in this case. Roger Stone is now a free man!”

For years, prominent Trump supporters have called for the president to pardon Stone, but Trump refused to grant clemency for him until now. Trump had, however, decried Stone’s sentencing as a “miscarriage of justice” as developments emerged throughout his trial.

“We are grateful and relieved. And glad this nightmare is over,” Stone attorney Robert Buschel said after Trump signed the grant of clemency.

Stone later shared a brief video message to thank his supporters.

Stone was swept up in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, being arrested in January 2019 and going on trial that November. He was found guilty on five separate counts of lying to the House Intelligence Committee during its investigation into Russian interference about his alleged outreach to WikiLeaks, one count that he “corruptly obstructed” the congressional investigation, and another for attempting to intimidate a possible congressional witness, radio host Randy Credico. After his conviction and sentencing, more of Stone’s mentions in Mueller’s report have been declassified.

Mueller’s April 2019 report concluded that Russia interfered in 2016 in a “sweeping and systematic fashion” but “did not establish” any criminal conspiracy between the Russians and the Trump campaign.

In February, after the Justice Department recommended a prison sentence of up to nine years for Stone, Trump tweeted that he “cannot allow this miscarriage of justice!” The DOJ reversed itself, and the four line prosecutors withdrew. The department said its decision to reverse course was made before Attorney General William Barr was aware of Trump’s position, and the president denied placing any pressure on the agency. The DOJ walked back the “unduly high” sentence recommendation, suggesting three to four years instead but leaving it up to the court. Barr called it “a righteous prosecution” and said he was “happy that he was convicted.”

Aaron Zelinsky, one of the Stone prosecutors, claimed in June that the DOJ’s sentencing recommendation reversal was based on “political considerations.” The DOJ and Republicans rejected this, and Republican Rep. Jim Jordan dismissed Zelinsky’s allegations as “double hearsay.”

The self-described “dirty trickster” was sentenced by Judge Amy Berman Jackson to 40 months for obstruction of justice and 12 months for the other five counts to be served concurrently. He also received a $20,000 fine and two years of supervised release. The Obama appointee said, “the truth still matters” as she handed down the sentence. Stone called it a “death sentence,” especially amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Stone’s lawyers alleged one of the members of the jury in his case, Tomeka Hart, was not an impartial juror due to her past partisan activity. Hart, who was a former Democratic congressional candidate and a program officer for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, repeatedly shared anti-Trump posts on social media. Trump said the jury was “totally tainted” because of Hart, but Jackson rejected Stone’s bid for a retrial in April, calling Stone’s motion “a tower of indignation.”

“Roger Stone is a victim of the Russia Hoax that the Left and its allies in the media perpetuated for years in an attempt to undermine the Trump Presidency. There was never any collusion between the Trump Campaign, or the Trump Administration, with Russia,” the White House’s lengthy statement said. “Such collusion was never anything other than a fantasy of partisans unable to accept the result of the 2016 election. The collusion delusion spawned endless and farcical investigations, conducted at great taxpayer expense, looking for evidence that did not exist. As it became clear that these witch hunts would never bear fruit, the Special Counsel’s Office resorted to process-based charges leveled at high-profile people in an attempt to manufacture the false impression of criminality lurking below the surface. These charges were the product of recklessness borne of frustration and malice.”

The announcement was met with immediate derision from Democrats and jubilation among Trump’s allies.

“Trump just commuted Roger Stone’s sentence. Stone lied and intimidated witnesses to hide Trump’s exploitation of the Russian hack of his opponent’s campaign. With Trump there are now two systems of justice in America: One for Trump’s criminal friends and one for everyone else,” tweeted House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff.

Rep. Jim Jordan, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, praised Trump’s move.

“Each week, Americans learn more about how the Obama-Biden Administration weaponized the intelligence community and Justice Department to target the Trump campaign,” the Ohio Republican said. “Roger Stone’s prosecution by overzealous Special Counsel prosecutors was an outgrowth of the Obama-Biden misconduct. Like every president, President Trump has the constitutional right to commute sentences where he believes it serves the interests of fairness and justice. I support President Trump’s decision to commute Roger Stone’s sentence.”

Earlier this year, Stone said in an interview with the Washington Examiner that he has a newfound faith in Jesus Christ and was praying that the president shows mercy.

“I’m aware of the fact there are skeptics who are going to say, ‘Stone is posturing. Stone is maneuvering for public sympathy,’ and so on. But that’s just not the case. And He, God, knows what’s in my heart,” he said. “Right now, all I can do is pray for justice and mercy, and I’m doing that,” Stone said, leaving the subject of a pardon “in God’s hands.“