Second GOP Senator Joins Mitt Romney in Denouncing Trump After Pardon of Roger Stone
Two Republican senators criticized President Donald Trump’s decision Friday to commute the sentence of Trump loyalist Roger Stone.
Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah raked Trump over the coals on Twitter.
“Unprecedented, historic corruption: an American president commutes the sentence of a person convicted by a jury of lying to shield that very president,” he tweeted.
Unprecedented, historic corruption: an American president commutes the sentence of a person convicted by a jury of lying to shield that very president.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) July 11, 2020
Fellow Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania issued his opposition through a statement posted on Toomey’s website.
“The president clearly has the legal and constitutional authority to grant clemency for federal crimes. However, this authority should be used judiciously and very rarely by any president. While I understand the frustration with the badly flawed Russia-collusion investigation, in my view, commuting Roger Stone’s sentence is a mistake,” Toomey’s statement said.
“He was duly convicted of lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstructing a congressional investigation conducted by a Republican-led committee. Earlier this week Attorney General Bill Barr stated he thought Mr. Stone’s prosecution was ‘righteous’ and ‘appropriate’ and the sentence he received was ‘fair.’ Any objections to Mr. Stone’s conviction and trial should be resolved through the appeals process,” Toomey said.
Stone, who faced charges as part of the wide-ranging probe conducted by former special counsel Robert Mueller, was found guilty of lying to investigators and witness tampering last year. After the trial was over, it was learned that jury forewoman Tomeka Hart had a history of Democratic activism and anti-Trump sentiments. In February, Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison, a term he has described as a “death penalty,” according to NBC News. His sentence was to have begun next week.
Some Republicans stood by the president. Even before official word of Trump’s action was announced, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said he was on board.
“In my view it would be justified if President @realDonaldTrump decided to commute Roger Stone’s prison sentence. Mr. Stone is in his 70s and this was a non-violent, first-time offense,” Graham tweeted.
“Equally important: Over time we learn how biased and corrupt Crossfire Hurricane and the Mueller probes were,” he tweeted.
Equally important: Over time we learn how biased and corrupt Crossfire Hurricane and the Mueller probes were.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) July 10, 2020
Mueller defended his actions in prosecuting Stone in a commentary piece in The Washington Post.
“I feel compelled to respond both to broad claims that our investigation was illegitimate and our motives were improper, and to specific claims that Roger Stone was a victim of our office. The Russia investigation was of paramount importance. Stone was prosecuted and convicted because he committed federal crimes. He remains a convicted felon, and rightly so,” Mueller wrote.
“We made every decision in Stone’s case, as in all our cases, based solely on the facts and the law and in accordance with the rule of law. The women and men who conducted these investigations and prosecutions acted with the highest integrity. Claims to the contrary are false,” Mueller wrote.
The piece led to a response from Graham on Twitter.
“Apparently Mr. Mueller is willing – and also capable – of defending the Mueller investigation through an oped in the Washington Post. Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have previously requested Mr. Mueller appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify about his investigation. That request will be granted,” Graham tweeted.
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have previously requested Mr. Mueller appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify about his investigation.
That request will be granted.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) July 12, 2020
A statement released Friday from White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany called Stone “a victim of the Russia Hoax that the Left and its allies in the media perpetuated for years in an attempt to undermine the Trump Presidency.”
In the statement, McEnany said “out-of-control Mueller prosecutors, desperate for splashy headlines to compensate for a failed investigation, set their sights on Mr. Stone.” The statement also noted that “if the Special Counsel had not been pursuing an absolutely baseless investigation, Mr. Stone would not be facing time in prison.”
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