White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley stated Wednesday that neither President Donald Trump nor White House officials spoke with Attorney General Bill Barr about changing the sentencing recommendations for Roger Stone.
“Unequivocally no,” Gidley said on Fox News when asked about the topic. “He didn’t talk to Attorney General [Bill] Barr before the sentence. In fact, the Attorney general and DOJ made it very clear they made this decision before any tweet went out. They made this decision on their own.”
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Gidley further insinuated that the DOJ would have to “address” the process in which the news of Stone’s sentence first broke. (RELATED: Four Federal Prosecutors Withdraw From Roger Stone Case Amid Turmoil Over Prison Recommendation)
Trump had called the Stone recommendations, as reported Monday, a “miscarriage of justice.” The Justice Department reduced the recommended 7 to 9 year sentence for Stone, a longtime Trump ally, on Tuesday.
“The prior filing submitted by the United States on February 10, 2020 does not accurately reflect the Department of Justice’s position on what would be a reasonable sentence in this matter,” DOJ said in a statement. “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.”
POTUS additionally sent Barr “congratulations” Wednesday morning for “taking charge of a case that was totally out of control.”
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. Evidence now clearly shows that the Mueller Scam was improperly brought & tainted. Even Bob Mueller lied to Congress!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 12, 2020
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer responded to Tuesday’s about face by sending a letter to Inspector General Michael Horowitz to investigate the Stone timeline.