Attorney General Barr to testify on leadership of the DOJ
Reaction from former Justice Department prosecutor James Trusty.
Former Justice Department official James Trusty told Fox News Wednesday that President Trump's critics are overreacting to the department's handling of the sentence for longtime Republican political operative Roger Stone.
Prosecutors initially recommended 87 to 108 months in jail for Stone, a longtime confidant of Trump whose career in politics spans back to Sen. Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign, after he was convicted of lying to Congress and witness tampering in relation to the Mueller probe. However, DOJ leadership overruled the prosecutors on the case, scaling back the proposed sentence for Stone, which immediately led Democrats to accuse Trump interfering in the process.
"It's not all that uncommon for the attorneys that went to trial ... to have a very strong view of sentencing by the time they get toward that sentencing," Trusty told "Bill Hemmer Reports." They've been living that case, and in this case, they calculated the guidelines in a very aggressive way."
BARR TO TESTIFY TO HOUSE DEMS AS TRUMP MUM ON POTENTIAL ROGER STONE PARDON
"The supervisors of the chain [of command] said 'Great job guys, but calm down, it's not an eight-year or nine-year case -- it doesn't have to be that harsh here' -- and they will walk it back before you ever see it make the press."
Democratic outrage over the situation has intensified due to the fact Trump called the initial recommendation unfair and later praised Barr for superseding it.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., called Barr an "enabler" of the president, and Sens. Christopher Coons, D-Del. and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. appeared incensed over the matter when they appeared on news programs Thursday.
Trusty told Hemmer that some Democrats will return to beating the drum of 'impeachment' of Trump and claim White House interference and "corruption."
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However, he added that now that Barr has agreed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on the matter next month, he is likely to assuage fears by telling lawmakers he and the president came to the same conclusion independently and that the White House is not bossing around the department.
Trusty added that the reduced sentence recommendation makes sense since when Stone threatened liberal comedian and former New York State political candidate Randy Credico -- and his dog, he was probably expressing "obnoxious bravado" and not a terroristic threat that would bring a stiff federal sentence.
Stone called a Credico a "rat" and a "stoolie" in a threatening April 2018 email. Credico testified that Stone used a "Godfather" reference to intimidate him into either refusing to testify or agreeing with Stone's account of events.
Fox News' Andrew O'Reilly and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.