The Justice Department on Thursday night told a federal judge that it was backing Roger stone
Roger Jason StoneBarr denies the pattern of defending Trump’s interests, blames the ‘media narrative’ that Pelosi throws cold water on the removal of Barr Justice Department officials who say the decisions are politicized MOREThe request to delay the start of his prison sentence due to his health problems that put him at risk of contracting the coronavirus, denying that the former Trump adviser was receiving special treatment.
Prosecutors from the DCUS Prosecutor’s Office said in a court filing that he adhered to the Justice Department directive not to oppose reasonable sentencing delays amid the pandemic.
Stone plans to report that he will begin his 40-month prison sentence on June 30, and earlier this week, he requested to delay the start date by 60 days.
“At no time since that original designation, did the US Attorney’s Office have any role or attempt to exert any influence on whether [the Bureau of Prisons] You should check the delivery date of June 30, “reads the presentation.
The court filing comes in response to United States District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who demands to know why the Justice Department had not opposed Stone’s effort to delay his sentence.
Stone faces three years and four months in federal prison in Jesup, Georgia, after a jury convicted him of seven counts of obstruction and tampering with witnesses stemming from his testimony before Congress about his efforts to link the campaign 2016 Trump and WikiLeaks. He is appealing his sentence and Jackson’s denial of his motion for a new trial.
Stone’s prison term looms amid a political battle over allegations that the Attorney General William Barr
Bill BarrBarr denies pattern of defending Trump’s interests, blames ‘media narrative’ that Pelosi throws cold water on accuser Clayton of Barr SEC refuses by firing Manhattan attorney to replace MORE It has politicized the Justice Department and has worked to protect the interests and allies of the President.
On Wednesday, Congress heard the testimony of whistleblowers from Aaron Zelinsky, one of the original prosecutors in the Stone case.
Zelinsky and other prosecutors withdrew from the case after the department reversed its recommendation that the former Republican agent serve between seven and nine years in prison.
Zelinsky alleged that the Justice Department leadership intervened in the case to recommend a lighter sentence due to Stone’s ties to the president.
“What I saw was that Roger Stone was being treated differently than all the other defendants,” Zelinsky told the House Judiciary Committee. “He received breaks that, in my experience, are unknown and even more so for a defendant in his circumstances: a defendant who lied to Congress, did not repent and who made threats against a judge and a witness in his case.”
The Justice Department has denied that it has given Stone special treatment or that politics has played a role in decision-making.
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