Prosecutors Quit Amid Uproar Over Trump Ally Stone’s Prison Time
DOJ to Propose Shorter Roger Stone Sentence After Trump Tweet
(Bloomberg) -- All four U.S. government prosecutors who backed a long prison stay for Trump ally Roger Stone resigned from the case, a stunning rebuke to the Justice Department after it cut his recommended sentence by more than half.
The prosecutors’ withdrawal from the team that won Stone’s conviction for lying to Congress, obstruction of justice and witness tampering capped a remarkable day in which the Justice Department shifted its stance hours after President Donald Trump tweeted criticism of the proposed punishment.
After the department said on Monday that the 67-year-old Republican political operative deserved as long as nine years in prison, it said in a court filing Tuesday that a range of three to four years would be more appropriate, while urging the judge to account for Stone’s “advanced age, health, personal circumstances, and lack of criminal history.”
One by one, the prosecutors who signed Monday’s memo announced in filings that they were resigning from the case -- first Aaron Zelinsky, then Jonathan Kravis, Adam Jed and Michael Marando. Kravis also quit his job as an assistant U.S. attorney.
“The idea of our president interfering with the criminal justice system in such a way is extraordinary and frightening,” said Sharon McCarthy, a former Manhattan federal prosecutor now in private practice. The lawyers are “absolutely doing the right thing,” she said.
The blowback from Democrats was swift. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he’ll ask for the Justice Department inspector general to investigate the reduced sentencing recommendation. Trump denied doing anything improper, saying he didn’t speak to the Justice Department before it signaled it would overrule the prosecutors.
Zelinsky and Jed were part of the team led by Robert Mueller that investigated potential Russian interference in the 2016 election. Before joining the special counsel’s office, Zelinsky was a federal prosecutor in the Maryland U.S. attorney’s office under Rod Rosenstein, who would go on to become deputy attorney general. He also worked as a lawyer at the State Department during the Obama administration and clerked for two Supreme Court justices from differing ends of the political spectrum -- John Paul Stevens and Anthony Kennedy. He attended law school at Yale.
Kravis worked in the public integrity section of the Justice Department’s criminal division. He was associate White House counsel during the Obama administration and clerked for Circuit Judge Merrick Garland on the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Trump attacked the prosecutors and U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who presided over the trial, in tweets on Tuesday night.
Stone is due to be sentenced by Jackson in Washington on Feb. 20. Judges have leeway in deciding on a sentence and need not follow the Justice Department recommendations.
On Monday, the government said in a sentencing memorandum that Stone deserved a tough prison term for his crimes because he posted an image of the judge overseeing his case with cross-hairs next to her head. He also violated a court order by repeatedly posting about the case on social media.
But on Tuesday, the Justice Department said in a new filing that the earlier recommendation “does not accurately reflect” its position “on what would be a reasonable sentence.” While Stone’s crimes warrant jail time, they said the suggested term of seven to nine years “could be considered excessive and unwarranted.”
Prosecutors said an appropriate sentence calculation would be from 37 to 46 months behind bars. The brief was signed by John Crabb Jr., the acting chief of the criminal division in the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington.
In their revised memo, prosecutors cited several reasons for lowering their recommendation, including one related to Stone’s threat to harm a witness, Randy Credico. The new memo said Credico didn’t “perceive a genuine threat.” And while the original memo said that Stone deserved more time for obstruction, the new one said it was unclear how much his “obstructive conduct actually prejudiced the government.”
Bruce Rogow, Stone’s lawyer, declined to comment.
Stone has argued he’s already been punished by his public trial and loss of professional standing. He asked for probation.
--With assistance from Christian Berthelsen and David Voreacos.
To contact the reporters on this story: Chris Strohm in Washington at cstrohm1@bloomberg.net;Erik Larson in New York at elarson4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net, Tina Davis, David Glovin
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