Barr reportedly among White House officials to advise Trump against Stone commutation

(Image credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

published 12 July 2020

President Trump reportedly commuted his friend and confidant Roger Stone's 40-month prison sentence against the wishes of many top White House officials, NBC News reports.

Multiple officials told NBC News that the president was counseled against the move, which was described as a "big mistake." Among those who urged their boss not to grant Stone clemency were White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Attorney General William Barr. Barr did reportedly intervene in Stone's case earlier this year when the Justice Department suddenly revised the recommended sentencing time for Stone from the initial seven to nine years to 40 months, but it seems he drew the line there.

Trump's advisers also tried to tell the commander-in-chief it was a politically risky move because his voting base elected him in the hopes he would "build the wall and drain the swamp," NBC's Kristen Welker told Meet the Press host Chuck Todd on Sunday. The Stone move, on the other hand, comes across as a "very swamp move," one aide told Welker. Read more at NBC News and watch Welker's report below. Tim O'Donnell

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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