Pascrell Blisters Justice Department Corruption

Following Trump Twitter temper tantrum, DOJ revises sentencing recommendation for convicted Trump crony

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) reacted to an announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice that it would revise down its sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone, a former top Trump advisor who is facing prison for seven federal felonies including obstruction, making false statements, and witness tampering.

“This move to protect Donald Trump’s felon friend is obstruction of justice. Plain and simple,” said Rep. Pascrell. “One day after announcing in a federal court that prosecutors would seek a harsh penalty for Donald Trump’s advisor, that recommendation is being lightened because of Trump’s Twitter temper tantrum. We are seeing a full-frontal assault on the rule of law in America. Direct political interference in our justice system is a hallmark of a banana republic. Despite whatever Trump, William Barr, and their helpers think, the United States is a nation of laws and not an authoritarian’s paradise.”

Rep. Pascrell has been one of Congress’s strongest critics of corruption in the Trump government and of William Barr’s tenure at the Department of Justice in 2019. Pascrell has been calling for Barr’s impeachment since May 2019. In October 2019, Pascrell wrote to the Board of Bar Examiners for the District of Columbia and for Virginia calling on them to revoke Barr’s licenses to practice law.

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