President Donald Trump on Wednesday congratulated Attorney General William Barr for reducing the Justice Department’s sentencing recommendation for his longtime friend and associate Roger Stone.
“Congratulations to Attorney General Bill Barr for taking charge of a case that was totally out of control and perhaps should not have even been brought,” Trump tweeted Wednesday morning. “Evidence now clearly shows that the Mueller Scam was improperly brought & tainted. Even Bob Mueller lied to Congress!”
The federal prosecutors handling the case recommended that Stone, who has been convicted of lying to Congress and witness tampering among other charges, serve between seven to nine years in prison. The department later told a judge on Tuesday that the recommendation “does not accurately reflect the Department of Justice’s position,” which is that the sentence should be “far less” than seven to nine years.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump had tweeted about the case, calling it a “miscarriage of justice,” and claiming that “the real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them.”
The four federal prosecutors who made the recommendation have since withdrawn from the case, and one, an assistant U.S. attorney, has left the Justice Department completely.