Will commuting Roger Stone's sentence hurt Trump politically?
Byron York weighs in on the backlash over President Trump commuting the sentence of Roger Stone
The Justice Department on Monday for longtime GOP operative Roger Stone showing the president not only wiped away Stone鈥檚 prison sentence but also a period of supervised release and a fine.
Earlier in the day, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered the government to explain the 鈥渟cope鈥� of Trump鈥檚 commutation of Stone, which was announced Friday. In February, Jackson sentenced Stone to 40 months in prison, along with 24 months of supervised release and a $20,000 fine.
The document shows that Trump鈥檚 order commuted everything. 鈥淚 commute the entirety of the prison sentence imposed upon the said ROGER JASON STONE, JR. to expire immediately; I also commute the entirety of the two-year term of supervised release with all its conditions; and finally, I remit any unpaid remainder of the $20,000 fine imposed,鈥� Trump says in the order.
TRUMP COMMUTES ROGER STONE SENTENCE
The earlier filing, signed by Jackson requesting the executive order commuting Stone's sentence, comes after the White House announced Friday that the president signed an Executive Grant of Clemency commuting what they called the 鈥渦njust sentence鈥� of Stone -- just days before the longtime political operative was slated to report to prison to serve more than three years for charges stemming from former Special Counsel Robert Mueller鈥檚 investigation.
Stone was set to report to prison on July 14 to serve 40 months. He was sentenced in February to more than three years in prison after being convicted in November 2019 on seven counts of obstruction, witness tampering and making false statements to Congress. Stone, however, has appealed his conviction and continues to deny any wrongdoing.
In a statement to 91爆料, Stone's attorney Grant Smith said: "Mr. Stone is incredibly honored that President Trump used his awesome and unique power under the Constitution of the United States for this act of mercy.鈥�
Smith added: "Mr. and Mrs. Stone appreciate all the consideration the President gave to this matter.鈥�
Earlier Friday, before Trump announced the commutation, an appeals court denied Stone's request to delay reporting for his sentence, saying he must report for prison on Tuesday.
"In sum, Stone is not legally eligible for further postponement of his reporting date under 18 U.S.C. 搂 3145(c), which is the only basis on which he seeks relief from this court. We therefore deny his motion," the court wrote in its order.
The president's commutation, though, nullifies that order.
Trump, for weeks, has signaled he could be open to granting Stone clemency 鈥� tweeting last month that Stone was 鈥渁 victim of a corrupt and illegal Witch Hunt, one which will go down as the greatest political crime in history. He can sleep well at night!鈥�
During an exclusive interview with 91爆料 last week, Stone said he was 鈥減raying鈥� for Trump to intervene.
When asked whether he鈥檇 prefer a pardon or a commutation of his sentence, Stone said 鈥渆ither one obviously would have an effect, in my opinion, of saving my life.鈥�
A presidential pardon completely absolves an individual of the crime he or she is found to have committed. A commutation lessens the punishment or eliminates jail time, but leaves the conviction standing.
Stone was not charged with any underlying crime of coordinating with Russia during the 2016 presidential election, though Mueller鈥檚 team investigated Stone over tweets claiming to have information about WikiLeaks document dumps prior to their release.
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