US: Prosecutors quit case after DOJ reversal on Stone prison time

The United States Justice Department said Tuesday it will take the extraordinary step of lowering the amount of prison time it will seek for Roger Stone, an announcement that came just hours after President Donald Trump complained that the recommended sentence for his longtime ally and confidant was “very horrible and unfair”.

The move prompted nearly immediate protest from all four prosecutors on the case. Prosecutors Michael Marando, Aaron Zelinsky, John Crabb and Jonathan Kravis, who won Stone’s conviction, withdrew from the case. Kravis told the court in a filing he was not only leaving the case but quitting his post as a federal prosecutor.

The Justice Department said the decision to shorten the sentencing recommendation was made Monday night, before Trump’s tweet, and that prosecutors had not spoken to the White House about it. Trump said on Tuesday, he did not intervene to ask the Justice Department to seek a shorter prison sentence for Stone, but the president said he would be allowed to do so.

The move was sure to raise questions about political interference and whether Trump’s views hold unusual sway over the Justice Department, which is meant to operate independently of the White House in criminal investigations and prosecutions.

Attorney General William Barr has been a steady ally of Trump’s, clearing the president of obstruction of justice even when former special counsel Robert Mueller had pointedly declined to do so and declaring that the FBI’s Russia investigation, which resulted in charges against Stone, had been based on a “bogus narrative”.

Democrats lambasted the decision. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the rule of law is being “totally perverted to Donald Trump’s own personal desires and needs”.

On Monday night, prosecutors had recommended Stone serve seven to nine years behind bars after being convicted of charges including lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstructing the House of Representatives investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to tip the 2016 election. The sentence, prosecutors said, was in line with federal guidelines. Such a sentence would send a message to deter others who might consider lying or obstructing a congressional probe or tampering with witnesses, they said.

The recommendation raised the prospect that Stone could receive the harshest sentence of any of the half-dozen Trump aides charged in Mueller’s investigation.

In a tweet early on Tuesday, Trump said the case against Stone was a “miscarriage of justice”. A Justice Department official said authorities decided to step in and seek a shorter sentence because they had been taken by surprise by the initial recommendation. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said prosecutors had told the department to expect a shorter recommendation.

Extremely rare

It is extremely rare for Justice Department leaders to reverse the decision of its own prosecutors on a sentencing recommendation, particularly after that recommendation has been submitted to the court. Normally, US attorneys have wide latitude to recommend sentences on cases that they prosecuted.

Sentencing decisions are ultimately up to the judge, who in this case may side with the original Justice Department recommendation. US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson has repeatedly scolded Stone for his out-of-court behaviour, which included a social media post he made of the judge with what appeared to be crosshairs of a gun.

The judge barred Stone from social media last July after concluding that she repeatedly flouted his gag order.

Besides, judges invariably frown upon crimes that they see as perverting the functions of the criminal justice system, such as making false statements or obstructing an investigation.

The Justice Department said it plans to refile the recommendation for Stone’s sentencing later on Tuesday.

Trump declined to tell reporters whether he was considering pardoning Stone. 

Stone has denied wrongdoing and consistently criticised the case against him as politically motivated. He did not take the stand during his trial and his lawyers did not call any witnesses in his defence.

Federal prosecutors also recently softened their sentencing position on former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, saying that they would not oppose a probation of punishment after initially saying that he deserved up to six months in prison for lying to the FBI. The Flynn prosecution is also being handled by the US Attorney’s Office in Washington, DC.

The White House referred questions about the decision to the Justice Department.