Roger Stone: prosecutors quit after DoJ signals plan to reduce sentence

Four lawyers who prosecuted political operative Roger Stone have resigned in protest after their sentencing recommendation was overruled and slashed by Donald Trump’s justice department.

Aaron Zelinsky, Jonathan Kravis, Adam Jed and Michael Marando quit the case while Democrats demanded an independent investigation into what they described as a dangerously politicised and corrupt justice department.

The growing crisis raised fresh questions over the role of William Barr, the attorney general who has been criticised as a partisan Trump loyalist.

Stone, 67, a self-described dirty trickster, was found guilty last November of seven crimes including obstruction of justice, lying to Congress and witness tampering. He was the sixth former Trump aide to be convicted in cases triggered by special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

In a court filing on Monday, prosecutors had requested that Stone serve seven to nine years behind bars, arguing that his actions showed “contempt for this Court and the rule of law”.

But just before 2am on Tuesday, Trump registered his disapproval in a tweet, claiming without evidence: “The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them. Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice!”

In an extraordinary move on Tuesday afternoon, a new court filing cut the proposed sentence recommendation and sought to rebut the prosecutors’ arguments, suggesting that seven to nine years would be too harsh.

“While it remains the position of the United States that a sentence of incarceration is warranted here, the government respectfully submits that the range of 87 to 108 months presented as the applicable advisory Guidelines range would not be appropriate or serve the interests of justice in this case,” the filing said.

Among the mitigating factors, it contended, are Stone’s “advanced age, health, personal circumstances and lack of criminal history” .

The four prosecutors abruptly resigned from the case. Zelinsky and Kravis left from their positions as special assistant US attorney and assistant US attorney in DC respectively.

The justice department is supposed to operate independently of the White House in criminal investigations and prosecutions, but Barr has proved a fierce defender of Trump. He claimed that Mueller’s investigation exonerated the president when the final report suggested otherwise.

Speaking in the Oval Office, according to a pool report, Trump denied speaking to the justice department about the case but claimed that he would have “the absolute right” to do so.

The president said of the prosecutors: “They ought to be ashamed of themselves … I think it’s been disgraceful.” The president declined to say whether he might consider commuting Stone’s sentence.

Amid a growing outcry, senior Democrats protested against the decision. Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, wrote to justice department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, requesting an investigation into the reduced sentencing recommendation

“This situation has all the indicia of improper political interference in a criminal prosecution,” Schumer wrote. “I therefore request that you immediately investigate this matter to determine how and why the Stone sentencing recommendations were countermanded, which justice department officials made this decision, and which White House officials were involved.”

Adam Schiff, chair of the House intelligence committee and lead impeachment manager, said: “I do not take a position on the proper prison term for Mr Stone, but it would be a blatant abuse of power if President Trump has in fact intervened to reverse the recommendations of career prosecutors at the Department of Justice.”

He added: “Doing so would send an unmistakable message that President Trump will protect those who lie to Congress to cover up his own misconduct, and that the attorney general will join him in that effort. Coupled with the president’s blatant retaliation against those who helped expose his wrongdoing, the Trump administration poses the gravest threat to the rule of law in America in a generation.”

Others expressed concern about what they saw as an unprecedented act of political interference. Sharon McCarthy, a former Manhattan federal prosecutor now in private practice, told the Bloomberg news agency: “The idea of our president interfering with the criminal justice system in such a way is extraordinary and frightening. If I were the prosecutor on that case I would submit my resignation.”

The final decision on Stone’s fate will rest with US district judge Amy Berman Jackson, who repeatedly took a harsh tone with Stone during the trial in Washington. She barred Stone from social media last July after he repeatedly flouted a gag order.

Trump regularly claims exoneration in the Russia investigation. In his special counsel report, Mueller did not establish a criminal conspiracy between Trump aides and Moscow but did outline extensive contacts between the campaign and Russian sources and numerous instances of possible obstruction of justice by the president or his aides.