UPDATE:
President Trump has commuted the sentence of Roger Stone.
BREAKING: POTUS commutes Roger Stone's sentence.
— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) July 10, 2020
From WH: "Roger Stone has already suffered greatly. He was treated very unfairly, as were many others in this case. Roger Stone is now a free man!"
ORIGINAL POST:
President Trump is "looking at" a Roger Stone pardon, he told reporters at the White House on Friday before leaving for business in Florida. Stone, a political operative and former aide to the president, was sentenced to three years and four months in prison in part for lying to the House Intelligence Committee about his attempt to get information on Hillary Clinton from WikiLeaks. According to the president, Stone was treated "very unfairly."
“I’ll be looking at it," Trump said. "I think Roger Stone was very unfairly treated, as were many people.”
#NEW President Trump on Roger Stone pardon:
— Jennifer Franco (@jennfranconews) July 10, 2020
“I’ll be looking at it. I think Roger Stone was very unfairly treated, as were many people.”
“And in the meantime, Comey and all these guys are walking around, including Biden and Obama, because we caught them spying on my campaign.”
If Trump does grant him clemency, it would come just a few days before Stone was set to report to prison. He is scheduled to report to a minimum security prison in Georgia on Tuesday, July 14.
Trump has been consistent on this front, telling radio host Howie Carr earlier this week that Stone's prayers may soon be answered.
“If you say he’s praying, his prayer may be answered,” Trump said. “Let’s see what happens.”
In chats with reporters, Stone has declared that he doesn't want a pardon, but a commutation.
Just had a long talk with #RogerStone. He says he doesn’t want a pardon (which implies guilt) but a commutation, and says he thinks #Trump will give it to him. “He knows I was under enormous pressure to turn on him. It would have eased my situation considerably. But I didn’t.”
— howardfineman (@howardfineman) July 10, 2020
Stone said he is concerned to report to prison, considering the potential to catch the coronavirus.
Trump has pardoned or commuted the sentences of several people since his time in office, including former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and Scooter Libby. You can see the whole lists here and here.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member