Donald Trump Commuting Roger Stone’s Prison Sentence Turns Social Media on Its Head

Daniel S. Levine

07/11/2020 12:28 am EDT

President Donald Trump commuted Roger Stone's prison sentence on Friday evening. Stone, Trump's former campaign aide and a longtime advisor, was set to report to prison next week. In February, he was sentenced to 40 months in prison for lying to Congress during the investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The news surprised very few on social media.

Stone was set to report to prison on Tuesday, reports NBC News, and a federal appeals court had denied his motion to delay reporting. In Friday's statement, the White House said Stone "has already suffered greatly" and was "treated very unfairly, as many others in this case. Roger Stone is now a free man!"

On Thursday, the 68-year-old Stone told SiriusXM hosts Jim Norton and Sam Roberts he was "optimistic" Trump would rescue him from serving time in prison. He called it a "death penalty" for him, adding, "I have grave concerns that if I went there at my age and condition, I may not live to see my appeal a year from now." Stone said he believed Trump would pardon him or commute his sentence, which would still mean he will "have to battle it out on appeal, which frankly I want to do, because I want an opportunity to clear my name."

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Stone was given two more months to surrender after the coronavirus pandemic began and spent his time at home in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida after he was sentenced. In June, submitted a motion to have the prison reporting date postponed until September due to the coronavirus infections spreading in prisons. However, Federal District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson denied the request and ordered him to report to the federal prison in Jessup, Georgia on July 14. Stone appealed the ruling.

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Trump was asked if he planned to step in on Stone's behalf earlier Friday. "I'll be looking at it. I think Roger Stone was very unfairly treated as were many people," he told reporters. Trump allies reportedly told him he should not step in, suggesting it could damage Trump politically, sources told NBC News.

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"Trump just commuted Roger Stone's sentence. Stone lied and intimidated witnesses to hide Trump's exploitation of the Russian hack of his opponent's campaign," Rep. Adam Schiff, the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, tweeted Friday evening. "With Trump, there are now two systems of justice in America: One for Trump's criminal friends and one for everyone else."

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