RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events Trump impeachment 3.0: manufacturing a narrative around the Roger Stone sentencing

TRIAL AND CONVICTION

Stone's trial began on November 6, 2019.[137] Randy Credico testified that Stone urged and threatened him to prevent him testifying to Congress.[138] Stone had testified to Congress that Credico was his WikiLeaks go-between, but prosecutors said this was a lie in order to protect Jerome Corsi. During the November 12 testimony, former Trump campaign deputy chairman Rick Gates testified that Stone told campaign associates in April 2016 of WikiLeaks' plans to release documents, far earlier than previously known. Gates also testified that Trump had spoken with Stone about the forthcoming releases.[139] After a week-long trial and two days of deliberations, the jury convicted Stone on all counts – obstruction, making false statements, and witness tampering – on November 15, 2019.[140][141][142] After the trial, one of the jurors emphasized that the jury did not convict Stone based on his political beliefs.[143] On November 25, a decision denying a defense motion for acquittal was released. The judge wrote that the testimony of Steven Bannon and Rick Gates was sufficient to conclude that Stone lied to Congress.[144]


SENTENCING

Stone's sentencing was initially set for February 6, 2020, after the judge rejected a prosecution request that he be immediately jailed.[145] On December 9, 2019, Stone's lawyers requested sentencing be delayed until sometime after March 9.[146]

On February 10, 2020, prosecutors requested that Stone be sentenced to seven to nine years in prison for his crimes after securing convictions on all seven charges[147] Around midnight, Trump characterized the sentencing recommendation as a "horrible and very unfair situation", tweeting, "Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice!"[148] In the afternoon of February 11, a senior Justice Department official from the District of Columbia filed a memo which undid the sentencing recommendations from the four prosecutors.[149] The department said it would recommend a lighter sentence, adding that the decision had been made before Trump commented.[150] Later that afternoon, all four of the Assistant US Attorneys who were prosecuting the case – Jonathan Kravis, Aaron Zelinsky, Adam Jed and Michael Marando – withdrew from the case, with Kravis resigning from the US Attorney's Office altogether.[151] After those actions, the Department of Justice filed a revised sentencing memorandum, saying the initial recommendation could be "considered excessive and unwarranted under the circumstances."[150]
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sent a letter to the Justice Department inspector general requesting a probe into the reduced sentencing recommendation, over fears of potential improper political interference in the process.[152] Trump later said he had not asked the Justice Department to recommend a lighter sentence, but also asserted he had an "absolute right" to intervene.[153][154][155]

Also on February 11, Trump withdrew the nomination of Jesse Liu to become an undersecretary of the Treasury, two days before her confirmation hearing was scheduled to begin. As a U.S. attorney, Liu had overseen some ancillary cases referred by the Mueller investigation including the Stone prosecution, as well as a politically-charged case involving former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, until attorney general Bill Barr replaced her with his close advisor Tim Shea in January 2020.[156] CNN reported the next day that Liu's nomination was withdrawn because she was perceived to be insufficiently involved in the Stone and McCabe cases.[157]

On February 12, presiding judge Amy Berman Jackson publicly announced her decision, made the prior week, to deny Stone's petition for a new trial. Stone had made the petition under seal, alleging bias on the part of a juror who worked in the IRS on criminal tax cases and had read press accounts of Stone's legal matters, but had stated during jury selection that he or she had not formed an opinion in the matter.[158]

On February 13, U.S. Attorney General William Barr has agreed to testify in front of Congress over alleged political interference by the Department of Justice over Roger Stone's sentencing. This case has been noted as a 'crisis in the rule of law in America', prompted by the department's unusual decision to overrule prosecutors, and Roger Stone's known close association with Donald Trump.[159]