John,

It started when Department of Justice prosecutors recommended a seven-to-nine-year sentence for Roger Stone, President Trump's longtime associate who has been convicted in a federal trial of lying to Congress and witness tampering.

After the DOJ issued this recommendation, President Trump tweeted that it was “horrible and very unfair” and hours later, a senior DOJ official overruled the prosecutors on the case and announced the Department would be recommending a more lenient sentence. Then, one by one, all four prosecutors who signed the original sentencing recommendation withdrew from the case, two resigning from positions within the Department. Last night, news broke that Attorney General Barr is involving himself in cases that are personally interesting to President Trump. This morning, Trump congratulated Barr for “taking charge.”

This is an outrage.

Yesterday, as the DOJ prosecutors were withdrawing from the case, CREW launched an investigation into Stone’s sentencing, and Barr’s and Trump’s involvement. Political interference in sentencing, apparently at the direction of the president, is an attack not just on civil servants at the Department of Justice, but on justice itself. This is something authoritarian despots do, not presidents of the United States. We will not allow this to go unchallenged.

CREW is exploring other avenues for accountability, and we’ll continue investigating this chilling politicization of the legal process. The rule of law is at stake.

We are three years into the Trump presidency, and President Trump now stands emboldened by the Senate’s refusal to hold him accountable. That means that our work challenging his corruption and abuses of power is more urgent than ever before—if you can, please consider donating now to support CREW’s legal and investigative work.

Thank you for your support—we couldn’t do this work without supporters like you.

Noah Bookbinder
Executive Director, CREW

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