WASHINGTON – Roger J. Stone Jr., the political agent convicted of lying and obstructing an investigation into President Trump’s campaign, denied on Monday night that he withheld incriminating information about the president before receiving clemency to keep him out of prison.
In his first television interview since Trump commuted his sentence on Friday night, Stone said he had been misinterpreted when he said he had refused to “play Judas” against the president. Instead, he said investigators working for Special Adviser Robert S. Mueller III wanted him to “falsely testify” against Trump.
“I wouldn’t lie against my 40-year-old friend so they can use him as an accusation,” Stone said on Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News. “They wanted me to be the ham in their ham sandwich because they knew that the Mueller report, particularly on Russia, was a failure. It was a chicken egg. They had nothing. “
The president’s decision to erase Mr. Stone’s 40-month prison sentence has sparked a string of criticism from Democrats and some Republicans who accused him of using his clemency power to reward an ally who lied to protect him. House Democrats have pledged to investigate and enforce legislation that prohibits Trump from issuing pardons or commutations to people who engage in a cover-up that protects against criminal prosecution, although such a measure would face constitutional obstacles and will never be enacted by Trump.
Stone was convicted of seven serious crimes, including lying to Congress and tampering with witnesses, to prevent an investigation into the links between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the US District Court. The United States for the District of Columbia, which presided over Mr. Stone’s trial, said in his ruling that “he was not prosecuted, as some complained, for defending the president; he was prosecuted for covering up the president.”
Trump commuted the sentence, arguing that the investigation was a “witch hunt” and that Stone was treated unfairly. In his two-page order, released Monday, Trump also erased two years of supervised release and the $ 20,000 fine imposed by Judge Jackson and ordered his release from house arrest.
In the hours leading up to Friday’s commute, Stone said Trump knew he could count on him. “He knows he was under enormous pressure to turn me against him,” Stone told journalist Howard Fineman. “It would have alleviated my situation considerably. But I did not. They wanted me to play Judas. I rejected.”
In his Fox interview, Stone said that did not mean he knew something he declined to tell investigators. “When I said that, people said, ‘Oh, you see? Stone had the assets at Trump and changed his silence by switching, ” he said. “That is obviously false. I never said that. I have never implicated him. “
Mr. Stone denounced the “horrible” prosecutors, calling one of them “Mueller’s dirtiest police” and another official “all the charm of a North Korean prison guard.”
Stone, 67, who said he feared dying in prison from a respiratory condition that would make him vulnerable to the coronavirus, expressed his gratitude to Mr. Trump. “I have a deep affection for Donald Trump because I have known him for 40 years,” he said. “He is a man of great justice and equity. He is a man of enormous courage. I knew I would take some photos for this. But I think most people, most impartial people, understand that he saved my life. “
While his sentence was overturned, his conviction was not, and Stone said he was unsure whether he would continue to appeal because if the guilty verdict were reversed, he would have to go to trial again before the same judge.
Trump defended his leniency order on Monday, attacking law enforcement officials who chased Stone at a White House event called to celebrate law enforcement officials.
“I get rave reviews for what I did for Roger Stone,” Trump said, attacking prosecutors, judges and judges on the case. “He was not given a fair trial.”
