Justice Department Releases Trump’s Clemency Order For Roger Stone

The Justice Department on Monday released the order that President Donald Trump signed Friday commuting the prison sentence for his longtime associate, Roger Stone.

The agency released the order shortly after U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson directed the administration to turn over the official document.

It shows that Trump not only commuted Stone’s 40-month prison sentence but waived the two-year supervised release and $20,000 fine that were part of the sentence that Jackson handed down against Stone on Feb. 20.

“I commute the entirety of the prison sentence imposed upon the said ROGER JASON STONE, JR. to expire immediately; I also commute the entirety of the two-year term of supervised release with all its conditions; and finally, I remit any unpaid remainder of the $20,000 fine imposed,” Trump said in the order.

Trump’s supporters have praised the decision to commute Stone’s sentence, while his critics have accused the Republican of rewarding his friend for his silence during the special counsel’s investigation.

Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller wrote an op-ed Saturday for The Washington Post in which he defended the case against Stone and the Russia probe.

A federal jury convicted Stone on Nov. 15, 2019 on charges that he lied to Congress regarding his discussions with associates about WikiLeaks, the group that released emails stolen from Democrats. Stone was also convicted on an obstruction charge and a witness tampering charge.

Trump defended his decision to commute Stone’s sentence Monday, saying that he believed his friend was the target of a baseless investigation and that he did not receive a fair trial.

Trump granted the clemency hours after a federal appeals court rejected Stone’s request to delay reporting to prison. He was scheduled to report to a medium-security facility in Jesup, Georgia on Tuesday. Stone asked for a delay in reporting to jail, citing a growing number of coronavirus cases at the Jesup facility.