Some Republicans disagreed with President Trump weighing in on the sentencing recommendation for his former adviser Roger Stone.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins said the president “should not have gotten involved” in the case.
Four Justice Department officials withdrew from Stone’s case after senior leaders at the department overruled a seven- to nine-year prison sentence recommendation. Three of the officials withdrew after Trump criticized the proposed sentence.
Trump denied playing any role in the department’s decision to lower the recommendation for Stone, who was found guilty of witness tampering and lying to Congress.
“I don’t like this chain of events,” she said. “The president weighs in, all of a sudden, justice comes back and says change the deal. I think most people in America would look at that and say, ‘Hmm, that just doesn’t look right.’ And I think they’re right,” Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said.
“My view is that these legal proceedings are best left to the system of justice in this country to be resolved. And I would hope in the end that that will happen,” South Dakota Sen. John Thune said.
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, said the president should “absolutely” stay out of cases but that he didn’t think Trump had done anything wrong.
“If I thought he’d done something that’d change the outcome inappropriately, I’d be the first to say. Apparently in this case … it makes sense,” he said.
