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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGreg Sargent: Time for Democrats to get much tougher with William Barr
By Greg Sargent
Opinion writer
Feb. 11, 2020 at 2:45 p.m. EST
Only hours ago, President Trump tweeted out his rage over the very unfair sentencing that prosecutors were thought to be seeking for Roger Stone, his longtime confidant.
Trump fumed that a long sentence for Stone, who had been convicted of witness tampering and lying to Congress in connection with the special counsels investigation of Russian sabotage of the 2016 election, would constitute a miscarriage of justice.
By shocking coincidence, the Justice Department is now going to revise its recommendation while telling us it had nothing whatsoever to do with the presidents command. The Post reports:
The Justice Department plans to reduce its sentencing recommendation for longtime President Trump confidant Roger Stone, after top officials were apparently blindsided by the seven-to-nine year penalty prosecutors urged a judge to impose, a senior Justice Department official said Tuesday.
In a stunning rebuke of career prosecutors that will surely raise questions about political meddling in the case, a senior Justice Department official said the department was shocked to see the sentencing recommendation in the Roger Stone case last night.
That recommendation is not what had been briefed to the department, the official said. The department finds the recommendation extreme and excessive and disproportionate to Stones offenses. The department will clarify its position later today.
The original sentencing recommendation had justified itself by citing the severity of Stones offenses including, among other things, the fact that he tried to obstruct an investigation designed to get to the bottom of interference in our election, which strikes at the very heart of our American democracy.
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spanone
(135,627 posts)OliverQ
(3,363 posts)Maraya1969
(22,441 posts)the orange assohole slows him down a little impeach him again too.
TwilightZone
(25,342 posts)It would just mirror the vote acquitting Trump. Romney might even vote to acquit.
lame54
(35,130 posts)Which is back to full speed
With less than a year left any slowdown is beneficial
TwilightZone
(25,342 posts)https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/12/trump-judges-mcconnell-circuit-082836
https://qz.com/1745526/trump-and-mcconnell-celebrate-victory-despite-impeachment-inquiry/
I see no reason why impeachment would slow Barr down. He knows impeachment would result in acquittal. There's no reason for him to change anything he's doing. He's going to do what Trump wants regardless of the circumstances. That seems pretty obvious.
Look at Trump. He not only didn't stop doing the stuff that got him impeached in the first place, he admitted it repeatedly in public and kept doing it, including stuff like witness intimidation.
lame54
(35,130 posts)But I'll go with your source
TwilightZone
(25,342 posts)But McConnell just quickly (and quietly) pushed forward. They didn't get much press because it was all impeachment, all the time.
Meadowoak
(5,516 posts)beachbumbob
(9,263 posts)Ferrets are Cool
(21,057 posts)gratuitous
(82,849 posts)As long as AG Barr protects President Trump and President Trump protects AG Barr, they're bullet-proof. The Senate will never vote to remove either man, so Trump can do as he pleases and Barr will provide the legal cover for anything he does. The judge in the Stone case is not, of course, constrained by sentencing recommendations, but it will take a judge of extraordinary courage to stand up to the President and the Department of Justice. And Mitt Romney may have used up the available supply of courage with his one vote last week.
Ferrets are Cool
(21,057 posts)ibegurpard
(16,685 posts)42bambi
(1,753 posts)the level he deserves ... back to his swamp.
TwilightZone
(25,342 posts)It's always been the most realistic option. Get out the vote like we did in 2018, especially in the few states that are going to swing the election, but really at all levels. Keep the House, make gains in the Senate, take back state legislatures, wherever possible.