Roger Stone Was ‘Treated Differently’ Because Of Relationship To Trump, Former Prosecutor Says

“What I heard — repeatedly — was that Roger Stone was being treated differently from any other defendant because of his relationship to the president,” Zelinsky said reading from a written opening statement submitted on Tuesday to the House Judiciary Committee.

Kerri Kupec, a Justice Department spokesperson, told the New York Times that Barr determined that prosecutors’ recommendation for Stone’s sentence was “excessive and inconsistent with similar cases” and pointed to the fact a judge ultimately sentenced Stone to about half the time — 40 months — that the prosecutors had originally proposed.

In February, Zelinsky and three fellow career prosecutors recommended to a judge that Stone receive seven to nine years in prison — in line with standard guidelines — for obstruction of justice, lying to Congress and witness tampering.

Hours later, Trump attacked the sentencing recommendation on Twitter:

The department then began to work on a new, more lenient recommendation to the judge, prompting four prosecutors to quit the case.

“In the many cases I have been privileged to work on in my career, I have never seen political influence play any role in prosecutorial decision making. With one exception: United States v. Roger Stone,” Zelinsky wrote in his prepared statement.