DOJ review blames Stone sentencing flip on poor leadership, not politics
Washington PostJul 22
DOJ Watchdog Finds No Improper Pressure to Lower Roger Stone Sentence
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Above: Former campaign advisor Roger Stone (R) arrives for an election night watch party for Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on March 5, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Image copyright: Win McNamee/Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
A report from the US Justice Department's (DOJ) inspector general, released last week, found no evidence of improper political interference in the 2020 decision to soften the sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone, who was convicted of obstructing a congressional investigation.
This comes as the internal watchdog interviewed two dozen current and former DOJ attorneys, including Timothy Shea and Aaron Zelinsky. Former Attorney General Bill Barr refused to participate in the probe.
The Spin
Republican narrative
This report stresses not only that there's no evidence whatsoever that the Trump administration improperly pressured attorneys to lower Roger Stone's sentencing recommendation, but also that the Office of Inspector General found that Barr called for a fix in range long before the former president denounced the proposal. Such claims have finally been debunked.
Democratic narrative
Trump and his supporters have overhyped these latest findings as if the absence of evidence proves there was no improper political influence over the prosecutorial decision-making in the Roger Stone case. Given that Trump quickly commuted his friend's sentence later in a blatant case of favoritism, it's clear that politics did play an improper role.
