President Trump had tweeted his displeasure at the nine-year prison sentence for his confidant Roger Stone. The Minister of Justice then reduced the demand. The prosecutors now threw down.
By Katrin Brand, ARD Studio Washington
Among Donald Trump’s friends, Roger Stone is a particularly dazzling figure. The 67-year-old lobbyist and political consultant has already organized money and majorities for Nixon and Reagan, and has repeatedly spread rumors and conspiracy theories about political opponents, especially the Clintons. So far, Donald Trump has described him as either a total failure or a fine guy.
Now the president has stood up for his former confidant and has thus been suspected of influencing the judiciary. Roger Stone had been convicted last year of influencing witnesses, wrongful statements and judicial disability, all related to the 2016 election and Russian attempts to influence its outcome. The public prosecutor filed for seven to nine years in prison for Roger Stone on Monday.
‘Terrible’ and ‘unfair’
Too much, Donald Trump thought. It was a terrible and unfair situation, the president said on Twitter on Tuesday that he could not allow such a misjudgment.
I found the recommendation ridiculous, I found the whole law enforcement ridiculous, he later said on the sidelines of a press conference. But, he assured him, he hadn’t spoken to the Ministry of Justice about it.
Ministry of Justice lowers penalty recommendation
That said yesterday that it is aiming for a lower prison sentence for Stone. The prosecutor’s proposal was extreme and exaggerated, it said in the justification. The Ministry of Justice denied that the president had anything to do with it. The decision had already been made on Monday evening.
The four prosecutors involved in the case quit their jobs on Tuesday evening, apparently one of them quit entirely. Justice Minister William Barr was supposed to act independently of the President. However, he recently sided with Trump again and again.
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