The President said he won’t rule out pardoning Roger Stone, Michael Flynn and others.
President Donald Trump declined to say anything on whether he was considering a pardon for his longtime confidant Roger Stone, leaving the possibility open just a day after the Justice Department announced that it would reduce Stone’s recommended sentence.
“I don’t want to say just yet,” Trump told reporters during an event in the Oval Office when asked whether he was considering pardoning Stone. “People were hurt viciously and badly by these corrupt people,” said Trump. “I want to thank the Justice Department for seeing this horrible thing.” He added.
The Justice Department had announced on Tuesday, February 11 that it was reducing its recommended seven to nine year sentence for Stone, hours after Trump complained about it on Twitter. The department’s move prompted all four prosecutors on the case to abruptly resign from the proceedings.
“I’m not concerned about anything, concerned about nothing,” Trump said when asked whether he found the prosecutors’ departures troubling. “They ought to go back to school and learn. Because I’ll tell you, the way they treated people, nobody should be treated like that.”
Congressional Democrats had called for an emergency hearing and investigation into the Justice Department’s actions on Wednesday, February 12. The House Judiciary Committee said on February 12 that Attorney General William Barr had agreed to testify in March and that members planned to ask him about Stone’s case.
Trump denied that his tweets criticizing Stone’s recommended sentence amounted to any interference with the case, telling reporters that Stone “was treated very badly” and that the initial sentencing recommendation was a “disgrace.” “Frankly, they ought to apologize to him,” Trump said.
Trump also briefly discussed his impeachment at Wednesday’s event. When asked what lessons he had learned, he attacked the Democrats. He said, he had learned that the Democrats were “crooked and vicious.” “They shouldn’t have brought impeachment.” He added.
