More than 2,000 former Justice Department officials have signed an online letter urging Attorney General William Barr to resign following his intervention in the case of former Trump campaign associate Roger Stone.
The online letter was organized by Protect Democracy, a nonprofit advocacy group staffed by former government officials, political operatives, and activists that have been opposing Trumps agenda via legal means. Some of the groups actions include helping to shut down Trumps voter integrity commission, suing to block Trumps border emergency declaration, and a running campaign to have Trump prosecuted for obstruction of justice.
In their letter, the signees claim that Barr and President Donald Trump had interfered with the “fair administration of justice.” They say that it was “unheard of for the Departments top leaders to overrule line prosecutors” while alleging that it was done “in order to give preferential treatment to a close associate of the President.”
“It is even more outrageous for the Attorney General to intervene as he did here—after the President publicly condemned the sentencing recommendation that line prosecutors had already filed in court,” the group wrote in their letter.
Prosecutors originally recommended seven to nine years in prison for Stone, who was convicted of lying to and obstructing Congress and witness tampering. The Justice Department, however, intervened in the case, calling the recommendation “excessive and unwarranted.”
The department then filed a revised sentencing memorandum that asked for “a sentence of incarceration far less than 87 to 108 months imprisonment,” but did not offer a specific prison recommendation.
The departments announcement to revise their sentencing recommendation came hours after Trump weighed in on Twitter about the seven to nine years recommendation. Justice Departments spokeswoman Kerri Kupec told media outlets that the DOJ didnt consult with the White House about Stones sentencing. She added that the decision to change the sentencing request was made before the president wrote on Twitter about it.
Four prosecutors involved withdrew from the Stone case on the same day of DOJs announcement.
The letter has been signed by around 2,000 former department officials as of Monday, which the group says is “vetted to the best of [their] ability.”
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to our request to comment.
This comes as the attorney general is under new scrutiny after allegations that his actions are politicizing the Justice Department.
On Monday, the Atlantic published an op-ed by Donald Ayer, the former deputy attorney general under George H. W. Bush, who accusRead More – Source
[contf]
[contfnew]
The Epoch Times
[contfnewc]
[contfnewc]
