Four prosecutors quit Roger Stone case after Justice Dept. recommends reduced sentence following Trump lament – By Michael McAuliff and Chris Sommerfeldt (New York Daily News) / Feb 11 2020
The Justice Department took the extraordinary step Tuesday of scaling back its own sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone after President Trump slammed the proposed prison term as “very horrible and unfair,” prompting all four prosecutors on the case to withdraw in apparent protest.
In a brief filing, a Justice Department official who had never before been tasked to the Stone case wrote that the government was requesting “far less” than the seven to nine years behind bars that the Washington U.S. attorney’s office initially asked for late Monday.
“Far less than 87 to 108 months’ imprisonment would be reasonable under the circumstances,” the official, John Crabb, said. “The government ultimately defers to the court as to the specific sentence to be imposed.”
In light of the new recommendation, Jonathan Kravis, Aaron Zelinsky, Adam Jed and Michael Marando — veteran prosecutors who spearheaded the Stone prosecution — abruptly announced in court filings that they were withdrawing from the case entirely.
Zelinsky and Kravis noted in their filings that they were also resigning from the Justice Department “effective immediately.”
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