Trump already spent this week giving a middle finger to justice by looking down the list to find the most corrupt people in America and give them pardons—or at least the most corrupt people in America who also wrote him a minimum six-figure check. It was clear that Trump’s pardon-a-thon was just an extension of the absolute destruction of the concept of impartial justice being conducted by the Barr-Trump tag team, and also clear that a big part of putting that unexpected event in the middle of this week was to provide cover for pardoning Stone … though really, there is no amount of cover that would adequately distract from Stone.
Sure, Trump commuted the sentence of a notoriously corrupt governor who tried to sell a U.S. Senate seat; pardoned the man whose twisted financial instruments were a key factor in the 2008 economic collapse; and gave an extra-special bonus to a woman who stiffed Medicare for over $200 million by ripping off the families of dementia patients. On the other hand, Roger Stone was convicted not just of lying to Congress and to investigators, but also of trying to force a witness to lie using threats that included a promise to kill his dog. And for Stone, that’s kind of typical behavior.
Barr’s intervention to reduce the recommended sentence for Stone led all four prosecutors to resign from the case, and one to resign from the Justice Department completely. But none of that made the original sentencing document invisible to Judge Jackson. Whether she will take Barr’s revised document as a real thing, go with the guidelines recommended by the no-longer-present prosecutors, or smack Stone with a well-deserved book remains to be seen. Barr’s recommendation didn’t actually include any set time of incarceration, though it did not explicitly call on Stone to be placed on probation. Almost anything seems possible.
But we’ll know soon: The sentencing is scheduled for Thursday morning. The pardon will take just as long after that as it takes Stone to cut a check.
Source: http://feeds.dailykosmedia.com/~r/dailykosofficial/~3/zI4KxNHfn_s/-It-s-sentencing-day-for-Roger-Stone-but-is-bid-a-final-farewell-to-justice-day