Washington — Roger Stone, the eccentric GOP operative and longtime Trump confidant, is set to be sentenced in federal court in Washington on Thursday amid controversy over the Justice Department’s extraordinary intervention in his case.
Stone, 67, was convicted of obstruction, lying to investigators and witness tampering in 2019 in a case stemming from former special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. A federal jury found him guilty on all seven charges at trial in November.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said earlier this week that she would delay enforcing Stone’s sentence until deciding whether he should get a new trial, as his lawyers have requested.
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Stone arrived at the courthouse Thursday morning ahead of his hearing in a navy pinstripe suit, accompanied by his wife, daughter and lawyers.
At trial, prosecutors said Stone collaborated with WikiLeaks over the release of stolen Democratic Party emails to damage Hillary Clinton in the 2016 campaign and subsequently lying to Congress about his involvement. They also said he pressed a witness to not cooperate in a congressional investigation.
Stone’s sentencing attracted the attention of President Trump and Attorney General William Barr, who last week overruled the prosecutors in the case who had recommended a prison sentence of seven to nine years. In a highly unusual public split, Barr determined the suggested sentence was too harsh, prompting all four government lawyers to withdraw from the case, with one resigning from the Justice Department outright. A new government filing said Stone should serve time in prison but deferred to Jackson on the duration.
Barr’s move to suggest a lighter sentence sparked intense criticism of political interference in a federal investigation, as it came after the president publicly criticized the recommendation and tweeted that the case was a “miscarriage of justice.” Barr denied discussing the case with Mr. Trump but said his tweets about active Justice Department cases make it “impossible for me to do my job.”
Sources familiar with the matter told CBS News earlier this week that Barr has considered resigning over the president’s refusal to stop commenting on active cases. More than 2,000 former Justice Department employees signed an open letter calling on Barr to step down for interfering in Stone’s sentencing.
