<p class="p1"><span class="s1">President Trump on Friday signed an Executive Grant of Clemency that frees Roger Stone from a 40-month prison sentence he was scheduled to begin next week. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Stone, a longtime conservative political operative and friend of President Trump, was charged with a series of crimes as part of Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Trump’s decision to commute Stone&#8217;s sentence was made “in light of the egregious facts and circumstances surrounding his unfair prosecution, arrest, and trial,” said White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany in a statement. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Special Counsel Mueller’s office “resorted to process-based charges leveled at high-profile people in an attempt to manufacture the false impression of criminality lurking below the surface,” continues McEnany. “These charges were the product of recklessness borne of frustration and malice&#8230;This is why the out-of-control Mueller prosecutors, desperate for splashy headlines to compensate for a failed investigation, set their sights on Mr. Stone.&#8221;</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Stone was convicted on seven counts for obstruction, lying to investigators, and witness tampering. Stone has appealed the convictions and says he is innocent of all wrongdoing. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">When he was arrested, the FBI sent dozens of agents “with automatic weapons and tactical equipment, armored vehicles, and an amphibious unit to execute a pre-dawn raid of his home, where he was with his wife of many years,” notes McEnany. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Keep in mind Stone is a 67-year-old man with multiple health problems. His record was completely clean before the Russia investigation.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">When asked if he would rather receive a pardon or a commutation of his sentence, Stone said either decision would save his life: “I have deep concerns about going to a prison where there absolutely is COVID virus, and, therefore, either one would have an effect of saving my life.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Stone went on to say that President Trump “is aware that the people trying to destroy Michael Flynn, now trying to destroy me, are the people trying to destroy him.” </span><span class="s1">(The Justice Department in May abandoned the case against Flynn after evidence emerged proving the FBI intentionally tried to trick Flynn into committing a crime.)</span></p>
<p class="p1"><strong><span class="s1">As expected, Democrats jumped at the opportunity to attack President Trump:</span></strong></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Donald Trump has abandoned the rule of law and made a mockery of our democracy,” tweeted Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). “He truly is the most corrupt president in history.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“With this commutation, Trump makes clear that there are two systems of justice in America: one for his criminal friends, and one for everyone else,” said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA).</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Even Facebook entered the battle by claiming to have removed hundreds of accounts linked to Stone that involved “coordinated inauthentic behavior.&#8221; </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>The stunt was obviously designed to reverse the clemency.</b></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Stone described Facebook’s accusations as “defamatory” and plans to sue the social media site. “They’ll have a chance to prove it,” he said. “It is put up or shut up time very soon. They’ll get a chance to show me the illegitimate sites. They don&#8217;t exist. I don&#8217;t own hundreds of Facebook pages and I never have.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>Author’s Note:</strong> Roger Stone is a casualty of the war against Trump and he was convicted for obstructing the investigation of a crime that did not exist. Mueller’s investigation did not produce any charges related to a conspiracy between Trump&#8217;s presidential campaign and Russia. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Trump was right to free Mr. Stone, but we can expect the decision to become a political football in the upcoming election. And let’s not forget how many criminals Obama pardoned right before he left office.</span></p>