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


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
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
Trump vows to lift Syria sanctions
speed read The move would help the new government stabilize the country following years of civil war
-
Senate rejects Trump's Library of Congress takeover
speed read Congress resisted the president's attempts to control 'the legislative branch's premier research body'
-
Hamas frees US hostage in deal sidelining Israel
speed read Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old soldier, was the final living US citizen held by the militant group
-
White Afrikaners land in US as Trump-declared refugees
speed read An exception was made to Trump's near-total ban on admitting refugees for the white South Africans
-
Qatar luxury jet gift clouds Trump trip to Mideast
speed read Qatar is said to be presenting Trump with a $400 million plane, which would be among the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the US government
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs