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'Our Carceral System Laid Bare': Trump Pardons Cronies Stone and Manafort as DOJ Proceeds With Lame-Duck Execution Spree
"Trump is pardoning his political allies while he's executing people on death row at an unprecedented rate. His deeds are unconscionable."
Dec 23, 2020
Throwing the deeply unequal nature of the U.S. criminal justice system into sharp relief, President Donald Trump late Wednesday issued another wave of pardons for his wealthy political and personal allies as his administration continues its unprecedented lame-duck spree of executions--a punishment almost exclusively reserved for the poor and marginalized.
Just 24 hours after issuing full pardons or commutations for two Republican loyalists, four former Blackwater mercenaries jailed for massacring Iraqi civilians, a Medicare fraudster, and others, Trump rolled out an additional list of pardons that includes longtime adviser Roger Stone, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, and Charles Kushner, a wealthy New Jersey real estate developer and father of the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
"A flow of pardons for the wealthy and corrupt, yet Brandon Bernard was left to die when his own jurors and prosecutor begged for mercy."
--Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
"A flow of pardons for the wealthy and corrupt, yet Brandon Bernard was left to die when his own jurors and prosecutor begged for mercy," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said late Wednesday, referring to the 40-year-old Black man the Trump Justice Department killed earlier this month for a crime he committed at the age of 18. "Our carceral system laid bare for the world to see."
Rep.-elect Cori Bush (D-Mo.) tweeted that the combination of Trump's wave of pardons for the well-connected and last-minute rush of executions amounts to "mercy for the rich and state-sanctioned murder for the poor."
"Trump is pardoning his political allies while he's executing people on death row at an unprecedented rate," said Bush. "His deeds are unconscionable."
According to the Pew Research Center, the outgoing president "has used his clemency power less often than any president in modern history," and many of his "clemency recipients have had a 'personal or political connection to the president.'"
"The only modern president who granted clemency almost as infrequently as Trump is George H.W. Bush, who granted 77 pardons and commutations in his single term," the research outfit noted. "Trump has granted clemency to less than half of 1% of the more than 10,000 people who petitioned him for it through the end of the 2020 fiscal year (which ended Sept. 30), according to the Justice Department."
Kyle Herrig, president of watchdog group Accountable.US, said in a statement Wednesday that the president's lame-duck pardons "are just the latest example of Trump's longstanding pattern of promoting cronyism and corruption in his administration at all costs."
"As millions of Americans are suffering and afraid of losing their homes and livelihoods, all Trump has time for is handing out political favors to his friends and allies," said Herrig. "There's little more we can expect from a president who has held ethics in low regard and ignored the struggles of everyday Americans for his entire four-year term."
The Trump administration's execution spree, meanwhile, appears on track to continue as the Justice Department--which resumed federal executions in July after a 17-year hiatus--aims to execute three additional people before President-elect Joe Biden, an opponent of the death penalty, takes office next month.
Attorneys representing the three federal inmates set to be executed--Corey Johnson, Dustin John Higgs, and Lisa Montgomery--have asked Trump to commute their sentences to life without parole. Johnson and Higgs have both tested positive for the coronavirus as it sweeps through the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.
In a letter (pdf) on Monday, a group of Democratic senators and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) demanded that the Justice Department inspector general investigate the Trump administration's execution spree, which the lawmakers described as "a break with both modern history and decades-old practice."
"The federal government had not executed a federal prisoner since 2003 and had only executed three people in the previous 50 years," the senators wrote. "The executions that have already taken place since November 3, 2020, and those scheduled to occur in January 2021, are 'the first executions under a lame-duck president in over 100 years.'"
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Roger Stone Coaches Trump on How to Stage an Election Coup
There's a strong possibility that the period after Election Day could make Bush v. Gore in 2000 look like a tea party.
Sep 15, 2020
Roger Stone, long-time Rasputin-like political advisor and confidant to Donald Trump, should be in federal prison right now. Stone was convicted and sentenced for seven federal felonies, based, among other things, on his lying to Congress regarding his communications with Wikileaks about coordinating release of Hillary Clinton's stolen emails for maximum advantage to the 2016 Trump campaign.
Instead, Stone is back on the streets after Trump commuted his sentence. Stone had told the media that Trump should let him out of the slammer so he could more effectively help Trump to stay in office. Trump apparently agreed.
"This election could determine whether American democracy, no matter how imperfect, can survive."
Now Stone is advising Trump to have federal agents seize ballots in Nevada, physically block certain voters from casting ballots, arrest media critics and shut-down their publications, and even invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act to arrest the likes of the Clintons, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Apple's Tim Cook.
Trump is apparently listening. In a Fox News interview just two days after Stone made his advice public, Trump referred to potential pro-Biden demonstrations around the election as "insurrection," telling Jeanine Pirro, "We'll put them down very quickly if they do that."
Trump added, "We have the right to do that. We have the power to do that if we want. Look, it's called Insurrection. We just send in and we, we do it very easy. I mean it's very easy."
Stone laid out his advice on Alex Jones' Infowars program last Thursday. Stone advised Trump to form "an election day operation using the FBI, Federal Marshals and Republican state officials across the country to be prepared to file legal objections and, if necessary, to physically stand in the way of criminal activity...The President's authority is the Insurrection Act and his ability to declare marshall law."
Using the Insurrection Act, Stone suggested that Trump arrest the Clintons, former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook, among others.
Stone attacked The Daily Beast for reporting on progressive discussions about countering Trump's efforts to discredit the election, advocating that "their entire staff can be taken into custody and their office can be shut down."
Stone also proposed that "The ballots in Nevada on election night should be seized by federal marshals and taken from the state. They are completely corrupted. No votes should be counted from the state of Nevada..."
If these were normal times and Trump were a normal President, Stone's comments would likely be dismissed as the ravings of a lunatic. But Fox's Chris Wallace asked Trump, whether he would "give a direct answer that you will accept the election." Trump refused, saying "I have to see. No, I'm not going to just say yes."
In a recent column in Forbes magazine, hardly a pillar of liberalism, Seth Cohen wrote that "Stone's calls for dramatic actions by Trump may not just be the rambling ideas of a disgraced felon. They might be actions the President actually, and dangerously considers."
And Harvard constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe, generally a liberal but no extremist, tweeted: "If Stone were some random QAnon-like dude, this might not be worth worrying about. But Stone has Trump's ear, so his advocacy of totalitarian takeover by Trump has to be taken seriously. A normal president would tell Stone to shove it. Not Trump."
A number of experienced political hands are warning of chaos and even civil violence after Election Day if, due to delays in counting mail-in ballots, the winner isn't certain. The Transition Integrity Project, "a bipartisan group of over 100 current and former senior government and campaign leaders and other experts" conducted "war games"of various post-Election Day scenarios. In three of their four scenarios (excepting a Biden landslide) "the potential for violence is high."
There's a strong possibility that the period after Election Day could make Bush v. Gore in 2000 look like a tea party. Both the Biden campaign and the wider progressive movement have to be making contingency plans now for legal, political and mass action so it's not taken by surprise.
Initial strategy discussions have begun among activist groups, led so far by the Indivisible Project and Protect The Results who have formed a coalition of dozens of progressive organizations to plan for mass mobilization if Trump tries to overturn the election. So far, I haven't seen much reaction from the Biden campaign--at least not publicly.
Many commentators have warned that this election could determine whether American democracy, no matter how imperfect, can survive. Stone's proposals--and the possibility that Trump might do something along their lines--make these warnings seem even more relevant and alarming.
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How Justice Works in the Trump-Barr System
In furtherance of his sycophancy, nothing pleases Barr more than doing things that please the Trump.
Jul 25, 2020
"There is no such thing as justice--in or out of court."
--Clarence Darrow, 1936 Interview
A number of readers have asked me to explain the different ways the Trump justice system impacts those who have been convicted of criminal activity. It is the mark of a truly just justice system that not every criminal is treated the same since it suggests that there is a concern for the individual and not a mindless imposition of punishment on those convicted of criminal activity notwithstanding their other virtues. And so it was that within a very short time we saw how a Trumpian justice system furthers the cause of justice.
Of the recent examples the most notable is, of course, the commutation of the four year, four month sentence of Roger Stone. Stone is a man who has, until recently, avoided the consequences that flow from lack of integrity, as brilliantly described in the Netflix drama about Stone's career. Of course, lack of integrity can sometimes has adverse consequences, as Stone learned when he was convicted of seven felony counts, including witness tampering and lying to investigators. And further adverse consequences can flow from such convictions, as Stone learned when the judge in his trial imposed a sentence of 40 months in federal prison. Here is something else Stone learned. He learned that properly placed friends can be more important than avoiding the consequences of criminal conviction for unlawful activities. And no friend can be more properly placed than the man permitted by the people to live in the White House.
The Trump has long been a friend and colleague of Stone. In an apt demonstration of how justice works in the Trump world, the Trump commuted Stone's sentence, meaning Stone would not have to serve any time in prison. Explaining the reason for the commutation, Kayleigh McEnany, the Trump mouthpiece, explained away Stone's witness tampering and lying, saying: "Roger Stone is a victim of the Russia hoax that the Left and its allies in the media perpetuated for years in an attempt to undermine the Trump presidency." In other words he was convicted of seven felonies because of the investigation of corrupt activities involving the 2016 election. She concluded her remarks saying: "Roger Stone is a free man!"
A second example of justice in the Trump era is provided by William Barr. Barr is the attorney general of the United States and a sycophant of the Trump. In furtherance of his sycophancy, nothing pleases him more than doing things that please the Trump. The conviction of Michael Flynn afforded Barr the perfect opportunity to demonstrate his eagerness to please the Trump.
Flynn's career as a Trump crony began on November 18, 2016 when he was named the Trump's national security adviser. During December 2016 he discussed with the Russian ambassador U.S. sanctions on Russia imposed by the Obama administration. In describing those conversations to Mike Pence he misled Pence as to the nature of the conversations. When that was disclosed, the Trump dismissed Flynn, explaining that he did so because Flynn "had lied to the vice president and the FBI."
On December 1, 2017, Flynn pled guilty to lying to FBI investigators about his communications with the Russian ambassador. While Flynn awaited sentencing, the Trump concluded that Flynn had been improperly charged. When the Trump came to that conclusion Flynn had already twice pled guilty. In response to the Trump's concern, Barr took the unusual step of asking the judge in the case where Flynn was awaiting sentencing to dismiss the charges, thus bringing an end to the prosecution of Flynn. The judge refused to dismiss the case and Barr then appealed to the next higher court to compel the dismissal. As this is written it is not known whether the case against Flynn will be dismissed or whether Flynn will be sentenced by the trial court.
Justice is, of course, not always deflected in the Trump world. Daniel Lewis Lee and Wesley Purkey could attest to that were they still with us. The United States has not made use of the death penalty since 2003. The executions of Lee and Purkey on July 14 and 16 respectively ended that hiatus. Daniel Lewis Lee was executed on July 14, 2020 over the objections of the family of his victims, who sought a life in prison sentence for him instead of imposition of the death penalty. Wesley Purkey, whose execution had been put on hold by a federal judge to determine his mental competency, was executed on July 16 after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the stay.
The reawakening of the death penalty as a tool to be used to punish certain convicted criminals was explained by the Trump sycophant in response to one of Lee's lawyers who said, after Lee's execution, that it was "shameful that the government, in the end, carried out this execution in haste." Not wanting to permit that appeal to decency to go unanswered, Barr responded: "We owe it to the victims and their families to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice system."
As we now know, nothing is owed to a country whose national security adviser admits to lying under oath to investigators, nor is anything owed to the country when a sometime close friend of the Trump is sentenced to prison following his conviction on seven felony counts. That is how justice in the Trump-Barr justice system works.
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Roger Stone Commutation Violates the Constitution
Even if we don’t characterize this as a bribe, at a minimum, the public evidence demonstrates that Trump’s purpose in commuting Stone’s sentence is to reward him for covering up for Trump.
Jul 23, 2020
While the country reels from a dangerously escalating pandemic and a nationwide barrage of racist law enforcement abuses, Donald Trump continues his obsession with seeking to undo the results of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the unlawful Russian interference in the 2016 election. He has already directed his fixer, Attorney General William Barr, to drop the case against his former campaign advisor and former National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, -- despite the fact that Flynn twice pleaded guilty to lying to FBI investigators about his communications with the Russian ambassador. And he directed Barr to force his Justice Department subordinates to reduce their sentencing recommendation for longtime Trump aide Roger Stone, who was convicted of seven felony counts, including obstructing a congressional investigation and witness intimidation all, in the words of the presiding judge, part of "covering up for the president." Now, just days before Stone was to begin serving a forty-month prison sentence, Trump has purported to exercise the constitutional pardon power to commute, that is, reduce, Stone's sentence to . . . zero -- no prison, no fine, no probation. In doing so, Trump has abused the pardon power in violation of the Constitution.
This is not faithful execution of the laws. This is obstruction of the law; it is obstruction of justice; and obstruction of lawful investigations, all for a corrupt and self-interested purpose.
There is an oft-repeated misconception that the presidential pardon power is "absolute." This perception is fundamentally at odds with our constitutional history, traditions, and the text of the Constitution. The United States is not an "absolute" monarchy; it is a constitutional democracy. One of the central purposes of the Constitution was to ensure that the federal government -- including the President -- would have only constitutionally prescribed powers, and that each of those powers would be subject to additional constitutional constraints. The Constitution thus bestows certain powers on Congress and certain powers on the President, but, as the Supreme Court has recognized, all of those powers, including the pardon power, are subject to the textual constraints in the Constitution itself.
This is why, to take one example, if President Trump were to issue a full pardon to all white police officers who have injured or killed any Black person, these pardons would not be valid. They would be blatantly unconstitutional in violation of equal protection of the laws and other provisions of the bill of rights.
To take a different example, suppose the President were to engage in a direct financial bribe, agreeing to issue a full pardon to Bernie Madoff in exchange for a $5 million payment to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. Most people would acknowledge that this pardon cannot be constitutionally valid.
It's not just common sense that the President cannot use the pardon power to carry out criminal activity; this principle flows directly from specific requirements set forth in the Constitution. In the very clause establishing the presidency, the Framers included language making clear that the presidency is in effect a public trust and its powers must be exercised for the benefit of the public, not the personal benefit of the President. Specifically, Article II of the Constitution provides that the President must "Take care that the Laws be faithfully exercised" and that the President must take an oath to "faithfully execute the office of the president."
Granting a pardon for a completely unlawful and illicit purpose is antithetical to this obligation to ensure that the laws are faithfully executed. In the case of Roger Stone there is ample public evidence -- including public statements of both Stone and Trump -- that his commutation was part of an illicit bribe: Stone agreed to protect the president by refusing to tell the truth, and even lying, to investigators. And Trump agreed in exchange to protect Stone from the legal consequences.
But even if we don't characterize this as a bribe, at a minimum, the public evidence demonstrates that Trump's purpose in commuting Stone's sentence is to reward him for covering up for Trump. This is not faithful execution of the laws. This is obstruction of the law; it is obstruction of justice; and obstruction of lawful investigations, all for a corrupt and self-interested purpose. And it's up to the United States District Court presiding over Stone's case to scrutinize this commutation and, if the Court finds that evidence persuasive, declare the commutation constitutionally invalid, and order Stone to prison.
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'Trump At His Most Corrupt': President Commutes 40-Month Sentence of Longtime Ally Roger Stone
"The president whose administration had peaceful protesters pepper sprayed in the name of 'law and order' has repeatedly stepped in to make sure his cronies don't see the consequences of their actions."
Jul 11, 2020
Government ethics watchdogs and congressional Democrats were among those outraged late Friday after President Donald Trump announced the commutation of his longtime associate Roger Stone's 40-month prison sentence, in what Democratic leaders called a "transparently corrupt" move.
Trump announced Stone would not be reporting to prison four days before the Republican operative was set to begin his sentence, which was far shorter than the seven to nine years originally recommended by prosecutors.
Stone was sentenced in February after being convicted of seven felony counts, including lying to Congress under oath, withholding documents pertaining to the investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign's communications with Russia, and threatening another witness if he cooperated with the probe.
"By this action, President Trump abused the powers of his office in an apparent effort to reward Roger Stone for his refusal to cooperate with investigators examining the president's own conduct. No other president has exercised the clemency power for such a patently personal and self-serving purpose."
--Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.)
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who led House Democrats in impeachment hearings against Trump over his alleged attempt to pressure Ukraine to aid him ahead of the 2020 election, said the commutation proves that to the president, "there are two systems of justice in America: one for his criminal friends, and one for everyone else."
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), who chair the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees, respectively, said they would immediately seek information from the White House counsel on the circumstances surrounding the commutation and demanded the Department of Justice release materials related to Stone's communications with Trump.
"The facts are clear: Roger Stone lied to investigators. He threatened to harm a witness to his crimes. A jury of our fellow Americans found him guilty of obstruction of justice," said Nadler and Maloney in a joint statement. "President Trump's unprecedented decision to commute the sentence of Roger Stone, an individual that could directly implicate him in criminal misconduct, undermines the rule of law. By this action, President Trump abused the powers of his office in an apparent effort to reward Roger Stone for his refusal to cooperate with investigators examining the president's own conduct. No other president has exercised the clemency power for such a patently personal and self-serving purpose."
Trump tweeted about the commutation on Saturday morning, claiming Democrats including former President Barack Obama and presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden are "criminals," rather than Stone.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) responded with a reminder that the commutation of Stone's sentence did not absolve him of his crime.
"This is what despots do: wield the law like a weapon to attack political opponents and protect loyal cronies," tweeted Washington Post columnist Brian Klaas. "It's a disgraceful, dark day for American democracy."
Noah Bookbinder, executive director of CREW, further pointed out that the president has repeatedly called for "law and order" during the ongoing racial justice uprising taking place across the country.
"This is one more example of President Trump at his most corrupt and another attack on our democracy," Bookbinder said. "The president whose administration had peaceful protesters for racial justice pepper sprayed in the name of 'law and order' has repeatedly stepped in to make sure his cronies don't see the consequences of their actions. The message is clear: In Trump's America, justice doesn't apply to rich white men who help the president."
Progressive advocacy group Stand Up America also contrasted Stone's freedom from his upcoming sentence with the long sentences and wrongful convictions faced by "far too many" black Americans.
"The commutation of Stone's prison sentence is an attack on the rule of law and an escalation of Trump's unprecedented corruption," said Sean Eldridge, Stand Up America president. "It's especially egregious in light of the systemic racism that plagues our broken criminal justice system, sending the message that white, rich, and well-connected men can escape the consequences of their crimes."
In commuting Stone's sentence, the president went against the recommendation of his own Justice Department. Attorney General William Barr reportedly warned this week that "mutiny" at the DOJ would result if the sentence was lifted.
Barr angered former DOJ employees when he publicly overruled prosecutors' recommendation of a seven to nine year sentence for Stone, causing more than 2,000 of them to sign a letter demanding the attorney general's resignation.
Earlier this week, CREW warned against a presidential pardon for Stone, saying that leaving him unaccountable for his crimes "months after Barr's DOJ intervened to cut his sentence would make a mockery of 'equal justice under law.'"
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Judge Sentences Roger Stone to 40 Months in Prison
Stone is expected to be pardoned by President Donald Trump.
Feb 19, 2020
This is a breaking news story... Stay tuned for updates.
Longtime Republican operative and ally to Preisdent Donald Trump Roger Stone on Thursday was sentenced to 40 months in prison by D.C. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson for impeding a Congressional investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Despite claims by Stone and his defenders in the conservative movement and establishment that the GOP fixer was acting to protect himself from attacks, Jackson said, the reality was that Stone's predicament was one of his own creation.
"This case did not arise because Roger Stone was being pursued by his political enemies," said Jackson. "It arose because Roger Stone characteristically injected himself smack into the middle of one of the most significant issues of the day."
"At his core, Mr. Stone is an insecure person who craves and recklessly pursues attention," Jackson added. "Nothing about this case was a joke. It wasn't funny."
As Reuters reported, Stone's attorneys took a different view:
Stone's attorney, Seth Ginsberg, said Stone's career as a self-described "dirty trickster" overshadowed other aspects of a spiritual man with no prior criminal record who has served as a mentor, loves animals, and is devoted to his family.
In her remarks, Jackson also brought up an instance when Stone issued a series of threats to witness Randy Credico, including a dire warning about Credico's dog. threatened
"All of it culminated in the threats to the dog and 'prepare to die,'" said Jackson.
Stone was found guilty of seven charges--obstruction, witness tampering, and five counts of lying to Congress--on November 15, 2019.
Speculation that Trump will pardon or commute Stone has run rampant ever since the president appeared to intervene in the case via tweet on February 11 disapproving of the recommended sentence for Stone of seven to nine years from federal prosecutors. As Common Dreams reported, Attorney General William Barr then retracted the sentencing recommendation and reportedly pressured the prosecutors to issue a new sentencing memo asking for far less time on February 12.
According to the New York Times, Jackson is used to the attention after over a year-and-a-half in the spotlight:
Judge Jackson's rulings in the past 20 months have generated such wall-to-wall news coverage that some of her fellow jurists are said to be quietly envious of her celebrity. Among other headline-making decisions: She revoked Mr. Manafort's bail and ordered him to await trial in a local jail; imposed a limited gag order against Mr. Stone and then vastly broadened it after he threatened her on social media; sentenced Mr. Manafort to three and a half years in prison; oversaw the trials of Mr. Stone and Mr. Craig; and refused to grant Mr. Gates' probation despite the pleas of both the prosecutors and the defense lawyers.
Yet, Politico reported Thursday morning, Trump commuting Stone's sentence or pardoning him outright seems inevitable to those in the president's orbit.
"It's not a question of if," one former White House official who remains close to the president said. "It's when."
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'More Political Interference at DOJ': Barr Installs Outside Prosecutor to Scrutinize Michael Flynn Case
"Barr is going to burn DOJ to the ground from the inside in his crusade to advance the president's political interests."
Feb 13, 2020
Attorney General William Barr has reportedly installed an outside prosecutor to scrutinize the criminal case against President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty in December of 2017 to lying to the FBI during the Russia probe.
Barr's move, reported Friday by the New York Times, comes as the attorney general is facing calls to resign over his decision to intervene in the case of Trump's longtime friend and confidant Roger Stone.
"The review is highly unusual and could trigger more accusations of political interference by top Justice Department officials into the work of career prosecutors," the Times noted. "Mr. Barr has also installed a handful of outside prosecutors to broadly review the handling of other politically sensitive national-security cases in the U.S. attorney's office in Washington."
"Barr is going to burn DOJ to the ground from the inside in his crusade to advance the president's political interests," MSNBC legal analyst Matthew Miller tweeted in response to the news.
The Times reported that the criminal case against Flynn "has been bogged down in recent months by his lawyers' unfounded claims of prosecutorial misconduct; a judge has already rejected those accusations."
"Flynn then asked to withdraw his guilty plea, which he first entered in December 2017," the Times added. "His case has become a cause celebre for Mr. Trump's supporters."
Progressive advocacy group Stand Up America tweeted Friday that Barr's decision to order a review of the Flynn case is "another in a long list of examples of extremely inappropriate political interference by this administration designed to advance the president's interests."
On Tuesday, all four career federal prosecutors handling the Stone case withdrew in protest after Barr intervened to reduce Stone's recommended prison sentence of seven to nine years. Numerous House Democrats are privately pushing for the prosecutors to testify before Congress, according to the Washington Post.
Barr's intervention in the Stone prosecution came hours after Trump tweeted that the sentence was "horrible and very unfair." In an interview with ABC News Thursday, Barr said the president has never ordered him to interfere in a criminal case.
Trump responded to Barr's interview with a tweet Friday morning insisting he has the "the legal right" to order the attorney general to intervene.
"I have so far chosen not to!" Trump claimed.
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Warren, Sanders Join Letter Urging AG Barr to Resign Immediately Over 'Corrupt' Role in Roger Stone Case
"The shocking action taken by you or your senior staff to seek special protections for Mr. Stone make a mockery of your responsibilities to seek equal justice under the law."
Feb 13, 2020
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders joined seven other Democratic senators on Friday in sending a letter to Attorney General William Barr demanding that the nation's top law enforcement official resign immediately for intervening this week to reduce the recommended prison sentence for Roger Stone, a longtime confidant of President Donald Trump.
"A [Department of Justice] that abandons the rule of law in order to give sweetheart deals to criminals acting on behalf of the president of the United States is as corrupt as it is unacceptable," reads the letter. "You and the other officials involved must be held accountable for these actions. We therefore urge you to resign from your position, effective immediately."
"Attorney General Barr's interference in Roger Stone's sentencing is not just unethical--it's corrupt, plain and simple."
--Sen. Elizabeth Warren In addition to Warren and Sanders, the letter was signed by Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii).
The letter came a day after Barr admitted in an interview with ABC News that he and other top Justice Department officials stepped in to overrule career federal prosecutors' recommendation of seven to nine years in prison for Stone, who was convicted last November of witness tampering and lying to Congress.
"I had made a decision that I thought was fair and reasonable in this case," said Barr.
Barr added in the interview that he is "not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody," referring to President Donald Trump's tweet early Tuesday calling Stone's initial sentence "horrible and very unfair."
"I think it's time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases," Barr said.
The senators wrote in their letter that Barr's rebuke of the president is "simply not credible given that it is sharply at odds with the behavior of top DOJ officials and the comments of the president over the past 72 hours."
In addition to demanding Barr's resignation, Warren, Van Hollen, Hirono, and Markey unveiled legislation Friday that would bar Justice Department officials appointed by the president from participating in matters related to "the president, his family, or his campaign associates."
"Attorney General Barr's interference in Roger Stone's sentencing is not just unethical--it's corrupt, plain and simple," Warren said in a statement. "This bill would use Congress' spending authority to protect the rule of law and prevent a corrupt attorney general from protecting the president's buddies when they commit crimes to benefit the president."
Read the letter:
Attorney General Barr:
We are writing to express our alarm about and opposition to the unethical political intervention of senior Department of Justice (DOJ) officials in the case of Roger Stone, a former campaign insider and adviser to President Trump who was convicted of obstructing a congressional investigation, lying to Congress, and tampering with a witness in connection with the investigation of Russian intervention into the 2016 presidential election. The interference in this case by you or other senior DOJ officials working under you is a clear violation of your duty to defend fair, impartial, and equal justice for all Americans. As a result, we call on you to resign immediately.
On Monday, February 10, the four DOJ prosecutors assigned to Mr. Stone's case recommended a sentencing range of seven to nine years in prison. Mr. Stone was found guilty of lying to the House Intelligence Committee in the committee's investigation of the 2016 election and then threatening "bodily harm" to a witness who could have exposed these lies. In their sentencing memorandum, the prosecutors explained that "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," and that "Stone's lies to Congress and his obstructive conduct are a direct and brazen attack on the rule of law." Shortly after news broke about the filing, President Trump tweeted that the recommendation was "a horrible and very unfair situation" and wrote: "Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice."
Later the same day, Timothy Shea, the interim head of the U.S. Attorney's office, filed a new sentencing memorandum reversing the recommendation of the line prosecutors, stating that the initial recommendation of seven to nine years "could be considered excessive and unwarranted." Following this remarkable interference by senior DOJ officials, all four of the prosecutors assigned to Mr. Stone's case withdrew.
According to press reports, "[t]he decision to override the recommended sentence was made by officials from [your office] and [Jeffrey Rosen,] the deputy attorney general." The day after DOJ's abrupt about-face, however, President Trump indicated that you were directly involved, tweeting: "Congratulations to Attorney General Barr for taking charge of a case that was totally out of control," and you confirmed your direct involvement in an interview with ABC News yesterday.
This is an extraordinary turn of events. It appears to show that you and other top DOJ officials intervened in a clearly political fashion to undermine the administration of justice at the President's behest in order to protect a well-connected political ally who committed a "direct and brazen attack on the rule of law." It demonstrates that you lied to Congress during your confirmation hearing when you stated that you would "keep the enforcement process sacrosanct from political influence," and it reveals your unwillingness or inability to maintain the integrity of the DOJ and to uphold justice and the rule of law. While you asserted yesterday in an interview with ABC News that you were "not going to be... influenced by anybody," this statement is simply not credible given that it is sharply at odds with the behavior of top DOJ officials and the comments of the president over the past 72 hours.
DOJ proudly describes its "sacred duty" as "ensur[ing] fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans." The shocking action taken by your or your senior staff to seek special protections for Mr. Stone make a mockery of your responsibilities to seek equal justice under the law and reveal that you are unfit to head the DOJ.
A DOJ that abandons the rule of law in order to give sweetheart deals to criminals acting on behalf of the President of the United States is as corrupt as it is unacceptable.
You and the other officials involved must be held accountable for these actions. We therefore urge you to resign from your position, effective immediately.
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AG William Barr to Testify Before House Judiciary Committee... in Six Weeks
The development comes amid increased scrutiny over the attorney general's actions, including his apparent role in reducing the recommended sentence for Trump ally Roger Stone, which prompted four career prosecutors handling the case to withdraw.
Feb 11, 2020
The House Judiciary Committee said Wednesday that Attorney General William Barr has agreed to testify before the panel next month--a development that came the same day President Donald Trump praised Barr for his role in the Justice Department reducing the recommended prison sentence for Trump confidant Roger Stone.
In a letter to the attorney general from 23 Democratic committee members, the lawmakers said that they are confirming his agreement to testify March 31.
The Democrats said Barr has "engaged in a pattern of conduct in legal matters relating to the president that raises significant concerns," including several actions over the past week. Those recent actions, the committee wrote, are:
- The ongoing developments following the removal of U.S. Attorney Jessie Liu, who oversaw the prosecutions of President Trump's deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates, President Trump's former national security advisor Michael Flynn, and President Trump's longtime political adviser Roger Stone.
- The creation of a new "process" by which President Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani can feed the Department of Justice information, through you, about the president's political rivals.
- The decision to overrule your career prosecutors and significantly reduce the recommended sentence for Roger Stone, who has been convicted for lying under oath, at the apparent request of the president--a decision that led to all four prosecutors handling the case to withdraw from the proceedings in protest.
Those actions, the lawmakers added, don't represent the full scope of the matters the committee will ask about during the hearing.
"The politicization of the department by President Trump--pressuring DOJ to go after his political enemies and help his allies who have committed serious crimes--is a clear threat to our democracy and totally unacceptable," the Democrats on the committee added.
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Warren Says AG William Barr Must 'Resign or Face Impeachment' for Intervening in Roger Stone Case
"Congress must act immediately to rein in our lawless attorney general."
Feb 11, 2020
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday called on Attorney General William Barr to resign for "abusing official power to protect political friends" after Barr overruled career federal prosecutors to reduce the recommended prison sentence for Roger Stone, a longtime confidant to President Donald Trump.
" Donald Trump is shredding the rule of law in this country. His AG overruled career prosecutors to reduce the sentence for his buddy Roger Stone."
--Sen. Elizabeth Warren
"Congress must act immediately to rein in our lawless attorney general," tweeted Warren, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate. "Barr should resign or face impeachment. And Congress should use spending power to defund the AG's authority to interfere with anything that affects Trump, his friends, or his elections."
"Trump and Barr's conduct has no place in our democracy," Warren added. "To end it, Congress must act--and the American people must hold them accountable in November."
Stone was convicted last November on seven counts of witness tampering and lying to Congress during the investigation into alleged collusion between Russia and Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.
Federal prosecutors on Monday recommended that Stone receive a prison sentence of seven to nine years for his crimes. Early Tuesday morning, Trump tweeted his disapproval of the recommended sentence, calling it "horrible and very unfair."
Just hours after Trump's tweet, the Justice Department said it was "shocked" by the recommended sentence and announced plans to reduce it, leading all four prosecutors handling the Stone case to withdraw in protest. In a tweet Wednesday morning, Trump applauded Barr for intervening.
"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 wrote.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a government watchdog group that called for Barr to step down late Tuesday afternoon, tweeted Wednesday that "it's both scary and telling to see him so openly pat the attorney general on the back for interfering in a prosecution on behalf of one of his associates."
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