Roger Stone Sentenced as Potential Presidential Pardon Looms Large

Rumors have been swirling for weeks as to what would eventually become of Roger Stone, the political provocateur convicted of lying to Congress during the investigation into the RussiaGate conspiracy theory.

Stone, who is a longtime pal of President Trump, was facing up to nine years in prison for his crimes – a sentence that the Commander in Chief himself remarked about on Twitter.  Soon, the Department of Justice was involved in an attempt to reduce Stone’s possible time behind bars.  That fiasco soon escalated, however, and Attorney General Bill Barr was soon threatening to resign his post on account of the fallout.

Today, after all of the speculation and consternation, Stone was finally sentenced.

Roger Stone, a longtime confidant of President Donald Trump, was sentenced to more than three years in prison Thursday for obstructing a congressional investigation in a case that has sparked fears about presidential interference in the justice system.

Soon after Judge Amy Berman Jackson pronounced sentence, Trump publicly decried Stone’s conviction as unfair and prominent Republican legislators were giving tacit support for a pardon. But Trump said he wasn’t ready to act just yet.

“I want the process to play out. I think that’s the best thing to do because I would love to see Roger exonerated,” he said. “I’m going to watch the process. I’m going to watch very closely. … At some point I’ll make a determination.”

Trump has previously hinted at a pardon for Stone, even going so far as to retweet a clip from Tucker Carlson’s television program promoting the idea just hours before Stone faced Judge Jackson.