Trump Praises Attorney General Barr For ‘Taking Charge’ Of Roger Stone Case

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“Congratulations to Attorney General Bill Barr for taking charge of a case that was totally out of control and perhaps should not have even been brought,” Trump said on Twitter. “Evidence now clearly shows that the Mueller Scam was improperly brought & tainted. Even Bob Mueller lied to Congress!”

It is unclear what specifically Trump was referring to as “tainted,” but the president has previously made unsubstantiated allegations about independent counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

At issue in this case is the prison term prosecutors recommended for Stone, who sought to serve as an intermediary between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and WikiLeaks. He was found guilty last November on several charges, including lying to Congress, and is awaiting sentencing.

o the department ordered the submission of a second sentencing memo in the case, displacing the first. The second memo, which appeared with court records on Tuesday afternoon, said that a sentence “far less” than the prospective seven to nine years in prison “would be reasonable under the circumstances.” It did not make a specific recommendation.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson has the ultimate authority to hand down the sentence in Stone’s case and the government said in its second filing that it deferred to her.

Trump turned his focus to Judge Berman in a Twitter post on Tuesday, writing, “Is this the Judge that put Paul Manafort in SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, something that not even mobster Al Capone had to endure? How did she treat Crooked Hillary Clinton? Just asking!”

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Article URL : https://www.npr.org/2020/02/12/805159485/trump-praises-attorney-general-barr-for-taking-charge-of-roger-stone-case