DOJ Seeks Shorter Sentence for Roger Stone
Jose Luis Magana/AP News
We ran the numbers: There are 491 news articles covering this topic. 73% (358) are left leaning, 22% (109) center, 5% (24) right leaning.
On Tuesday, four federal prosecutors withdrew from President Trump’s longtime friend Roger Stone’s case. The withdrawal came hours after the Justice Department intervened in the case to seek a shorter sentence for Stone.
A left-leaning article by The New York Times highlights that the Justice Department’s intervention into the case prompted questions about whether the Justice Department was giving into White House pressure. To some, the surprising reversal in the case underscored questions about Attorney General William P. Barr’s willingness to protect the department’s independence from political influence by Trump.
NPR published a centrist article reporting that the U.S. Attorney’s Office recommended on Monday that Stone serve seven to nine years in prison, however, Justice Department officials thought that this sentence was “extreme and excessive and disproportionate.” Trump also sent out a tweet on Tuesday that faulted the recommended sentence, but officials didn’t make any explicit link between the president’s tweets and the Justice Department’s planned action.
A right-leaning article by New York Post highlights that Aaron Zelinsky, a special assistant US attorney who served on former special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, was the first to quit the Stone case, followed by assistant US Attorney Jonathan Kravis, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Jed, and assistant U.S. attorney Michael J. Marando. In the filing, justice lawyers said that “a sentence of between 87 and 108 months’ imprisonment could be considered excessive and unwarranted.”
From the left
Justice Dept. to seek shorter sentence for Roger Stone overruling its prosecutors
New York Times