Kuzma/iStock(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Justice will reverse course Tuesday on its sentencing recommendation for President Donald Trump’s longtime friend and former campaign adviser Roger Stone, a senior DOJ official said, only hours after Trump himself reacted to the recommendation by calling it a “miscarriage of justice.”Federal prosecutors told a federal judge on Monday that Stone should be sentenced to serve seven to nine years in prison after jurors found him guilty last November on all seven counts brought against him by former special counsel Robert Mueller as part of his investigation into Russian election interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The charges, brought against Stone in January 2019, included five counts of lying to Congress, one count each of witness tampering and obstruction of a proceeding.The official insisted that senior leadership of the department were not kept in the loop on the recommendation that federal prosecutors put forward in court Monday evening.”The department was shocked to see the sentencing recommendation,” the official, who requested anonymity to speak about the department’s internal deliberations, said. “This was not what had been briefed to the department and the department thinks the recommendation was extreme, excessive and grossly disproportionate to Stone’s offenses and the department will clarify its position later today at the court.”DOJ spokesperson Kerri Kupec told reporters, without providing evidence, that the decision by department leadership to reverse course on the recommendation for Stone’s sentencing length came before the president’s tweet.
This is a horrible and very unfair situation. The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them. Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice! https://t.co/rHPfYX6Vbv
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2020
Kupec also said there was no contact between the White House and Justice Department leadership regarding the Monday evening’s filing prior to the decision made to reverse course.In response to DOJ’s sentencing recommendation change, Roger Stone attorney Grant Smith told ABC News, “Our sentencing memo stated our position on the recommendation made yesterday by the government. We look forward to reviewing the government’s supplemental filing.”In court papers filed on Monday, the prosecutors outlined in detail their case from Stone’s trial, highlighting each count against him and citing the incidents that led to Judge Amy Berman Jackson gradually issuing stricter gag orders against Stone in the months leading up to his trial.The charges filed against him revolved around Stone’s sworn testimony in September 2017 before the House Intelligence Committee. Specifically, Stone was found guilty of lying to Congress about conversations he had about hacked material published by WikiLeaks that Russian military hackers allegedly stole from the Democratic National Committee and then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, John Podesta. Stone was also charged with witness tampering by urging his former associate, Randy Credico, to exercise his Fifth Amendment rights before the committee.”Stone knew the gravity of the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation when he obstructed it by giving false testimony and tampering with a witness,” government lawyers wrote in their sentencing memo filed Monday. “Indeed, Stone acknowledged as much in his opening statement before the Committee. Stone chose — consciously, repeatedly, and flagrantly — to obstruct and interfere with the search for the truth on an issue of vital importance to all Americans.”Prosecutors later added, “Roger Stone obstructed Congress’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, lied under oath, and tampered with a witness. And when his crimes were revealed by the indictment in this case, he displayed contempt for this Court and the rule of law. For that, he should be punished in accord with the advisory Guidelines.” The guidelines range for Stone’s sentencing is 87-108 months in prison, or seven to nine years.In response, Stone’s lawyers disputed the sentencing guidelines outlined by federal prosecutors in the defense’s sentencing memo filed late Monday night, arguing Stone’s convicted offenses do not warrant the high sentencing range of seven to nine years in prison that the government is recommending.After presenting their argument against the prosecution’s proposed sentencing guidelines, Stone’s attorneys wrote to Judge Jackson, “It is respectfully submitted that the Court should impose a non-Guidelines sentence of probation with any conditions that the Court deems reasonable under the circumstances.”Jackson is scheduled to sentence Stone on Feb. 20. Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
