Trump decries lack of ‘fairness’ in Stone trial ahead of sentencing

President Trump on Thursday said there had been a lack of fairness in the legal process for Roger Stone as his longtime confidant was about to be sentenced in federal court.

The president tweeted as proceedings in Stone’s sentencing got underway, questioning why the conservative provocateur was facing jail time for lying to Congress while FBI Director James Comey and former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe have not faced charges for separate, unrelated incidents. 

The Justice Department’s watchdog in a report last year rebuked Comey over his handling of memos detailing his conversations with Trump and said he violated FBI policies, but did not recommend whether he face charges.

McCabe was fired from the FBI in 2018 after Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz provided a recommendation to an internal FBI office that said McCabe was not forthcoming during interviews with federal investigators and that he “lacked candor — including under oath — on multiple occasions.”

But the Justice Department said last week it would not pursue charges in the matter.

A jury convicted Stone in November of seven counts of lying to Congress and witness tampering following a trial that featured testimony from former Trump campaign officials Stephen Bannon and Richard Gates.

Prosecutors initially recommended he face seven to nine years in prison, but the Attorney General William Barr intervened to lower the recommendation. All four of the prosecutors on the case resigned a short time later.

Trump has inserted himself into the controversy, railing on Twitter against the prosecutors, the Obama-appointed judge presiding over Stone’s case and the forewoman of the trial jury. On Tuesday, he continued to vent against the Mueller investigation and even suggested he might sue the officials behind it.

Trump’s frequent commentary on the case has led to speculation he is likely to pardon Stone.