Watchdog seeks records on DOJ’s Roger Stone sentencing reversal

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a government watchdog group, is requesting records from the Department of Justice (DOJ) after federal prosecutors recommended a sentencing reduction for former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone.

CREW filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on Tuesday seeking all records of communications between the DOJ and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, which is handling Stone’s case.

Prosecutors initially recommended seven to nine years in prison, but the Justice Department later said in a court memo that it was calling for “far less” than the previous range. Four prosecutors who made the initial sentencing recommendations have since left the case.

The developments come just hours after President Trump tweeted on Tuesday morning that the first sentencing recommendation was “very unfair” and that such a “miscarriage of justice” should not be allowed. When asked in December if he would pardon Stone, Trump said he hadn’t though about it but described him as a “good person.”

Stone was convicted in November of seven counts of obstructing and lying to Congress and witness tampering related to his efforts to provide the Trump campaign inside information about WikiLeaks in 2016.

In the sentencing recommendation, the government first wrote that seven to nine years in prison “accurately reflect the seriousness of his crimes and promote respect for the law.” Stone’s attorneys in a Monday night filing asked that the judge impose probation as an alternative to prison.

Stone is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 20 by D.C. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an Obama appointee.

CREW has previously filed FOIA requests seeking information on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo removing an NPR reporter from an overseas trip. The group has also asked a federal judge to force the White House to preserve all records of communications between Trump and foreign leaders.

Another D.C. watchdog group, Restore Public Trust (RPT), also filed a FOIA request to the DOJ requesting documents related to Stone’s case and called for a congressional investigation into the move by DOJ. 

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, denounced the DOJ’s decision, adding that  “Committee will get to the bottom of this.”