At the same time, the US president noted that he "has the absolute right" to make such a request of the DoJ, according to reports from inside the White House.
Trump says he did not ask the Justice Dept to change the Roger Stone sentence recommendation but says he would be allowed to do so pic.twitter.com/5AI2cCjFvy
— Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) February 11, 2020
Trump contended that the sentencing recommendation "was a horrible aberration" and declared that the federal prosecutors "ought to be ashamed of themselves."
All four prosecutors assigned to the Stone case - Aaron Zelinsky, Johnathan Kravis, Adam Jed and Michael Marando - withdrew from the case on Tuesday.
All four line prosecutors who signed the original Roger Stone sentencing recommendation for 7-9 years incarceration have withdrawn from the case this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/6aa9FKqVUV
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) February 11, 2020
Earlier in the day, anonymous DoJ officials reached out to the media and claimed they were "shocked" by US federal prosecutors' sentencing recommendation of seven to nine years behind bars for Stone, who was found guilty of seven charges back in November 2019. Those charges included witness tampering, obstructing a US House investigation and providing false testimonies to Congress.
"The Department finds seven to nine years extreme, excessive and grossly disproportionate. The sentencing recommendation was not what had been briefed to the Department," an anonymous DoJ official told Fox News on February 11.
The officials' comments to the press came shortly after Trump took to social media to express his displeasure with the prosecutors' recommendation, which he described as a "miscarriage of justice."
This is a horrible and very unfair situation. The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them. Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice! https://t.co/rHPfYX6Vbv
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2020
Though it was originally reported that the DoJ would announce its own sentencing recommendation, it has since deferred the matter to federal court.
Stone, who served as a campaign adviser for Trump's 2016 presidential bid, was arrested in January 2019 after it was alleged that he had lied to Congress about his ties to WikiLeaks and its publication of leaked files from the servers of the Democratic National Committee.
