The Justice Department is expected to file a new sentencing memo Tuesday walking back its one-day old recommendation that Roger Stone serve seven to nine years in prison, Fox News reported.
The report, based on a senior DOJ source, comes less than 24 hours after federal prosecutors in D.C. filed a sentencing memo for Stone calculating the guidelines for his sentence to be between 87-108 months.
The senior DOJ official told Fox News that the Justice Department was “shocked” by the memo and that the recommendation was “not what had been briefed to the Department.”
“The Department finds seven to nine years extreme, excessive and grossly disproportionate to Mr. Stone’s offenses,” the DOJ source said, according to the report, while claiming that the decision to walk back the recommendation was made before President Trump tweeted that it was 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
The AP has confirmed Fox News’ report.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office in D.C. declined to comment when reached by TPM.
“We have read with interest the new reporting on Mr. Stone’s case,”Grant Smith, an attorney for Stone, said. “Our sentencing memo outlined our position on the recommendation made yesterday by the government. We look forward to reviewing the government’s supplemental filing.”
Update: This story has been updated with a statement from Stone’s attorney.
