Sen. Mitt Romney blasted President Donald Trump’s decision to commute Roger Stone’s prison sentence on Saturday, calling the move “Historic corruption.”
Romney pulled no punches in his response. “Unprecedented, historic corruption: an American president commutes the sentence of a person convicted by a jury of lying to shield that very president,” Romney tweeted on Saturday morning.
Unprecedented, historic corruption: an American president commutes the sentence of a person convicted by a jury of lying to shield that very president.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) July 11, 2020
Romney has been one of the few Republicans in Congress willing to criticize the White House. Earlier this year he voted to remove Trump from office for abuse of power during his impeachment trial.
Stone was convicted last year of lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstruction. He was scheduled to report to prison next week before Trump commuted his sentence on Friay night.
Trump’s allies in Congress encouraged the president to intervene in Stone’s case prior to the commutation. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham tweeted Friday he believed “it would be justified” for Trump to assist Stone saying “this was a non-violent, first-time offense.
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio said he supported Stone’s commutation. “Roger Stone’s prosecution by overzealous Special Counsel prosecutors was an outgrowth of the Obama-Biden misconduct,” he wrote on Twitter.
