Trump commutes his political ally’s sentence

U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to commute his aide Roger Stone’s prison sentence. The opposite party and media outlets have issued angry announcements, saying that President Trump undermined the fundamentals of the rule of law, which is becoming an issue of a growing importance in the presidential election to be held in less than four months.

The White House announced that Trump signed an administrative order to give Stone, a former advisor of Trump’s presidential election campaign, a full pardon. The decision was made right after the appellate court dismissed Stone’s request for a reprieve. "Roger Stone is 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," the White House statement said under the name of Kayleigh McEnany. "Not only was Mr. Stone charged by overzealous prosecutors pursing a case that never should have existed, and arrested in an operation that never should have been approved, but there were also serious questions about the jury in the case.”

Stone is a controversial figure known as a “king maker” and “master of political maneuvering” who does not hesitate to attack opponents with conspiracy. There is even a documentary focusing on his political maneuvers. His famous quote “It is still better to be infamous than never be famous at all” is still the talk of the town in Washington.

“Roger Stone was targeted by an illegal Witch Hunt that never should have taken place,” said President Trump in a press briefing on Saturday. “People are extremely happy because in this country they want justice and Roger Stone was not treated properly. So I'm very happy with what I did.”

President Trump’s decision that was made right before the presidential election was a kick in the beehive. Sen. Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, described Trump’s move as “unprecedented, historic corruption” on his Twitter account. He criticized Trump saying that “an American president commutes the sentence of a person convicted by a jury of lying to shield that very president.”


lightee@donga.com