白宫周五宣布，特朗普总统已经为他的老朋友、前竞选顾问罗杰·斯通减刑。
白宫新闻秘书凯丽·麦克纳尼(Kayleigh McEnany)在一份声明中表示，特朗普“签署了一份行政赦免令，对小罗杰·斯通(Roger Stone，Jr .)的不公正判决予以减刑”，称他“是俄罗斯骗局的受害者，左派及其媒体盟友多年来一直在利用这一骗局，企图破坏特朗普的总统任期。”
麦克纳尼写道:“鉴于围绕他的不公正起诉、逮捕和审判的恶劣事实和情况，总统决定减刑。”“罗杰·斯通已经深受其害。他受到了非常不公平的待遇，这一案件中的许多其他人也是如此。罗杰·斯通现在自由了!”
当美国广播公司新闻报道时，斯通的律师格兰特·史密斯发表了一份简短的声明。
史密斯在接受ABC新闻采访时表示:“特朗普总统运用《美国宪法》赋予他的令人敬畏且独一无二的权力来实施这一仁慈行为，这让斯通感到无比荣幸。”"斯通先生和斯通太太感谢总统对此事的所有考虑。"
众议院情报委员会主席亚当·希夫(Adam Schiff)谴责了这一举动，指责特朗普破坏了法治。希夫负责监管该委员会。
希夫在一份声明中说:“通过减刑，特朗普清楚地表明，美国有两种司法体系:一种是针对他的犯罪朋友，另一种是针对其他所有人。”“唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)、比尔·巴尔(Bill Barr)以及所有支持他们的人对法治构成了最严重的威胁。”
2017年9月26日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的前心腹罗杰·斯通(Roger Stone)在华盛顿特区举行的关于俄罗斯干涉2016年大选的闭门听证会上出现在众议院情报委员会面前后，接受媒体采访
斯通因与前特别顾问罗伯特·穆勒调查俄罗斯干涉2016年总统选举有关的活动而受到审查。今年2月，他被判入狱40个月，此前他在11月被判妨碍司法公正、篡改证人和向国会撒谎五项罪名成立。斯通目前被还押候审，预计将于7月14日向监狱报到。
虽然减刑部分或全部减轻了罪犯的刑期，但只有赦免才能使定罪完全无效。在没有获得完全赦免的情况下，斯通将免于入狱，但仍将是一名被定罪的重罪犯，禁止他在未来的任何选举中投票、担任陪审团成员或寻求当选公职。如果特朗普选择，作为减刑的一部分，他也可以免除斯通的任何经济责任。
斯通被判在调查俄罗斯干涉的几个关键问题上误导立法者，包括他与特朗普竞选团队的沟通，讨论维基解密在竞选期间传播从民主党窃取的破坏性文件。
斯通在2015年末正式退出特朗普竞选，但仍与特朗普的多名高级顾问和总统候选人本人保持联系。根据庭审时提供的证词和证据，斯通成为了该活动的非正式联络人——在维基解密的所有事情上——这种关系支撑着他最终在2017年9月众议院情报委员会宣誓作证时所说的谎言。
在减刑之前，特朗普一直在猜测他计划赦免或减刑他的老朋友和顾问。特朗普总统今年5月在推特上表示，斯通“受到了非常不公平的对待”，并提到了陪审团的一名前成员，他此前曾指责该成员有偏见。
“罗杰·斯通受到了非常不公平的待遇。陪审团女领班怎么样，有人认为这公平吗?可耻!敬请关注。”
华盛顿特区的一名联邦法官上个月给了斯通7月14日的自首日期——尽管他曾试图在9月3日向佐治亚州监狱报告，理由是担心冠状病毒——就在第二天总统在推特上发表了一篇请求他赦免斯通的文章。
斯通曾要求基于陪审员不当行为的指控进行新的审判，但法官艾米·伯曼·杰克逊(Amy Berman Jackson)在4月份拒绝了斯通的请求，称斯通未能“提供任何理由相信存在‘严重的误判’。”"
“被告没有证明陪审员撒谎;他也没有证明，在挑选陪审团时，通过尽职调查不可能找到所谓的不合格证据。”
对于斯通认为陪审员因为在社交媒体上的评论而有偏见的说法，杰克逊说，“在某种程度上，人们可以认为任何社交媒体的帖子都与陪审员的问卷不一致，它们不值得进行新的审判，因为它们不符合‘新发现’的东西的法律标准。”"
在2月下旬关于新审判动议的听证会上，在特朗普一再指控斯通有偏见后，杰克逊对斯通审判中一名陪审员的安全表示担忧。
杰克逊在听证会上说:“美国总统用他的Twitter平台传播了一个关于陪审员的特殊观点。”“任何侵犯陪审员隐私或骚扰或恐吓他们的企图都与我们的司法制度完全背道而驰。他们应该得到我们的保护。他们的隐私应该得到保护。”
唐纳德·特朗普总统的前竞选顾问罗杰·斯通于2019年2月21日抵达华盛顿特区的美国地方法院
自上任以来，特朗普已赦免25人，减刑10人，其中包括保守派媒体和其他几个政治盟友支持的一系列有争议的人物。特朗普于2017年8月首次赦免了前马里科帕县治安官乔·阿帕约，这是在阿帕约受审并被定罪后，但在他被判刑前采取的不同寻常的举措。从那以后，特朗普偶尔会赦免一些人，比如保守派电影制作人迪内希·帝索萨、斯库特·利比、前NYPD警察局长伯尼·克里克和康拉德·布莱克，后者是前报纸出版商，曾在2018年撰写过一部讨好特朗普的传记。今年2月，特朗普为伊利诺伊州前州长罗德·布拉戈耶维奇减刑，他因联邦腐败指控被判处14年监禁，刑期已满8年。在金·卡戴珊·韦斯特(Kim Kardashian West)的个人请求下，特朗普还在几起案件中对非暴力毒品犯罪的罪犯减刑。他还死后赦免了传奇拳击手杰克·约翰森。众所周知，现代总统在第一任期内都很少使用赦免和减刑权——通常是通过白宫和司法部赦免律师办公室之间的密切协调，通过一个细致的过程。尽管奥巴马总统在其任期的最后一天创造了减刑1715人的记录——其中大约98%是因毒品犯罪被定罪的囚犯——但在他的第一个任期结束时，他只对一个人减刑，同时赦免了另外22人。奥巴马在离任前总共赦免了212人，比他的任何一位现代前任都少，除了前总统老布什和小布什。
唐纳德·特朗普总统的前竞选顾问罗杰·斯通于2019年2月21日抵达华盛顿特区的美国地方法院
President Trump commutes sentence of longtime friend, adviser Roger Stone
President Trump has commuted the sentence of his longtime friend and former campaign adviser Roger Stone, the White House announced on Friday.
In a statement, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Trump had “signed an Executive Grant of Clemency commuting the unjust sentence of Roger Stone, Jr.,” calling him “a victim of the Russia Hoax that the Left and its allies in the media perpetuated for years in an attempt to undermine the Trump Presidency.”
“In light of the egregious facts and circumstances surrounding his unfair prosecution, arrest, and trial, the President has determined to commute his sentence,” McEnany wrote. “Roger Stone has already suffered greatly. He was treated very unfairly, as were many others in this case. Roger Stone is now a free man!”
When reached by ABC News, Stone attorney Grant Smith issued a brief statement.
“Mr. Stone is incredibly honored that President Trump used his awesome and unique power under the Constitution of the United States for this act of mercy,” Smith told ABC News. “Mr. and Mrs. Stone appreciate all the consideration the President gave to this matter.”
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who oversees the committee Stone was convicted of lying to, condemned the move, accusing Trump of undermining the rule of law.
“With this commutation, Trump makes clear that there are two systems of justice in America: one for his criminal friends, and one for everyone else,” Schiff said in a statement. “Donald Trump, Bill Barr, and all those who enable them pose the gravest of threats to the rule of law.”
Roger Stone, former confidant to President Donald Trump speaks to the media after appearing before the House Intelligence Committee during a closed door hearing on Russian interference in the 2016 election, Sept. 26, 2017 in Washington, D.C.
Stone came under scrutiny for activity related to former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. In February, he was sentenced to 40 months in prison after he was found guilty in November of obstructing justice, witness tampering and five counts of lying to Congress. Stone is currently remanded to home confinement and was expected to report to prison on July 14.
While a commutation reduces a convict's sentence either in part or in full, only a pardon nullifies a conviction entirely. Absent a full pardon, Stone will avoid prison time but will still remain a convicted felon, barring him from voting in any future elections, serving on a jury or seeking elected office. If Trump chooses, as a part of the commutation he also may release Stone from any of the financial obligations that his conviction carried.
Stone was convicted of misleadinglawmakers on several key elements of their probe into Russian meddling, including communications he had with the Trump campaign discussing WikiLeaks’ dissemination of damaging documents stolen from Democrats during the campaign.
Stone formally left the Trump campaign in late 2015 but remained in touch with multiple senior advisers to Trump and the presidential candidate himself. According to testimony and evidence presented at his trial, Stone became the campaign's informal point-person on all things WikiLeaks -- a relationship that underpinned lies he eventually told during sworn testimony before the House Intelligence Committee in September 2017.
The commutation comes after Trump had long fueled speculation that he had plans to pardon or commute the sentence of his longtime friend and adviser. President Trump tweeted in May that Stone "had been treated very unfairly" and made reference to a jury foreperson, who he has previously accused of being biased.
"Roger Stone has been treated very unfairly. How about that jury Forewoman, does anybody think that was fair? DISGRACEFUL! Stay tuned," the president tweeted.
After a federal judge in Washington, D.C. last month gave Stone a surrender date of July 14 -- though he had sought to report to the Georgia prison on Sept. 3, citing coronavirus fears -- the very next daythe president tweeted a story about a petition for him to pardon Stone.
Stone had asked for a new trial based on alleged juror misconduct, but Judge Amy Berman Jackson denied Stone’s request in April, saying Stone failed to "[supply] any reason to believe that there has been a 'serious miscarriage of justice.'"
“The defendant has not shown that the juror lied; nor has he shown that the supposedly disqualifying evidence could not have been found through the exercise of due diligence at the time the jury was selected," Jackson said.
With regard to Stone's argument that the juror was biased because of comments made on social media, Jackson said, "To the extent one could consider any of the social media posts to be inconsistent with the juror’s questionnaire, they do not warrant a new trial because they do not meet the legal test for something that has been 'newly discovered.'"
During the hearing on the new trial motion in late February, Jackson expressed concern for the safety of a juror from Stone’s trial after Trump repeatedly accused her of being biased.
“The president of the United States used his Twitter platform to disseminate a particular point of view about a juror,” Jackson said during that hearing. “Any attempt to invade the privacy of the jurors or to harass or intimidate them is completely antithetical to our system of justice. They deserve our protection. They deserve to have their privacy protected.”
Former campaign advisor to President Donald Trump, Roger Stone, arrives at U.S. District Court, Feb. 21, 2019, in Washington, D.C.
Trump has so far granted 25 pardons and commuted the sentences of 10 individuals since taking office, among them a host of controversial figures championed by conservative media as well as several other political allies. Trump first pardoned former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in August 2017, taking the unusual step of doing so after Arpaio's trial and conviction but prior to his sentencing. Since then Trump has sporadically granted pardons to individuals like conservative filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza, Scooter Libby, former NYPD Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik and Conrad Black, a former newspaper publisher who penned a fawning biography of Trump in 2018. This February, Trump commuted the sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was eight years into his 14-year prison sentence on federal corruption charges. Trump has also in several cases commuted the sentences of individuals convicted for non-violent drug offenses, following personal pleas from Kim Kardashian West. He also granted a posthumous pardon to the legendary boxer Jack Johnson. Typically, modern presidents are known to use their pardon and commutation powers sparingly in their first terms -- often through a meticulous process via close coordination between the White House and the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney. While President Obama set a record in commutations at 1,715 by his final day in office -- roughly 98% of which were for prisoners convicted on drug offenses -- at the end of his first term he had only commuted the sentence of a single individual while granting pardons to 22 others. Obama granted a total of 212 pardons before leaving office, fewer than any of his modern predecessors with the exceptions of former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.
