Justice Dept. to Seek Shorter Sentence for Roger Stone, Overruling Its Prosecutors

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department will back off its sentencing recommendation for Roger J. Stone Jr., President Trump’s former campaign adviser and longtime friend, a senior department official said Tuesday, with senior department officials intervening to overrule front-line prosecutors who tried the case.

The move is highly unusual and is certain to generate allegations of political interference. It came after federal prosecutors in Washington asked a judge late Monday evening to sentence Mr. Stone to seven to nine years in prison on seven felony convictions for trying to sabotage a congressional investigation that threatened Mr. Trump. Early on Tuesday, Mr. Trump declared the sentencing recommendation “horrible and very unfair.

“The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them,” Mr. Trump wrote. “Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice!”

Both the sentencing recommendation and the president’s tweet took officials at Justice Department headquarters by surprise, according to a department official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the Stone case was ongoing.

The recommendation was higher than what the United States attorney’s office had told Justice Department officials it would suggest, according to the official, and the department decided soon after the filing to override the prosecutors’ decision.

The department had not discussed the recommendation with the White House or Mr. Trump, the official said.

“The department finds the recommendation extreme and excessive and disproportionate to Stone’s offenses,” the official said.

The Justice Department was to clarify its position in a court filing later on Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors said in their sentencing memorandum Monday that Mr. Stone, 67, should serve up to nine years because he threatened a witness with bodily harm and interfered with a congressional investigation. They also cited the fact that he violated a judge’s gag orders after he was charged in a federal indictment.

They also said that he had lied under oath and forged documents as investigators sought to understand how the 2016 Trump campaign tried to benefit from stolen Democratic documents.

Defense lawyers argued that Mr. Stone not only never intended to threaten the witness but also created no real obstacle for investigators.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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