Russia Investigation: 2 Prosecutors In Roger Stone Case Quit After Justice Rejects Sentencing Recommendation

Two prosecutors resigned Tuesday from the case involving Trump confidant Roger Stone after the Justice Department backed off from sentencing recommendations.

The Justice Department earlier in the day said it would recommend lowering the amount of prison time for Stone, 67, to time served after President Trump criticized prosecution recommendations for a seven- to nine-year sentence. Justice said, however, the decision was made before Trump tweeted his displeasure.

Trump told reporters Tuesday he had not spoken with the Justice Department about the sentencing recommendation but that he would have been within his rights to do so.

The decision apparently prompted Jonathan Kravis to resign as an assistant U.S. attorney and Aaron Zelinsky to resign as a special prosecutor. Kravis said he would leave government entirely while Zelinsky was planning to return to the U.S. attorney’s office in Baltimore. Neither said specifically why they were resigning from the case.

The resignations came after a senior Justice Department official told reporters officials were “shocked” by the stiff sentencing recommendation.

“The department finds the recommendation extreme and excessive and disproportionate to Stone’s offenses,” the official said.

Charges against Stone grew out of Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. He was convicted in November on seven counts, including lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstructing a House investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.

Trump has called Stone a “nice guy” who got caught up in a “big hoax.” Observers have speculated Trump was considering a pardon for his longtime ally and adviser.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized the Justice decision, saying the rule of law is being “perverted to Donald Trump’s own personal desires and needs.”

“We are seeing a full-frontal assault on the rule of law in America,” Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-N.J., said. “Direct political interference in our justice system is a hallmark of a banana republic. Despite whatever Trump, William Barr, and their helpers think, the United States is a nation of laws and not an authoritarian’s paradise.”

Stone attorney Grant Smith said he is looking forward to reading the government’s supplemental filing.

Sentencing decisions will up to District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an Obama appointee, when Stone is sentenced Feb. 20. It is rare for Justice to countermand the recommendations of prosecutors, raising questions about political influence.

In recommending the stiff sentence, prosecutors wrote that Stone’s actions were not a “one-off mistake in judgment.” Stone has denied wrongdoing and said the charges against him were politically motivated.

Testimony at Stone’s trial indicated Trump campaign officials viewed him as a conduit to WikiLeaks and tried to use him to get access to some 19,000 emails that had been stolen from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Attorney General William Barr has been criticized for efforts to protect Trump, including a letter to Congress before release of the Mueller report that exonerated the president. The report said no conclusion could be reached on whether Trump tried to obstruct justice because Justice Department rules do not allow a sitting president to be charged with a crime.