William Barr to testify before House committee following outcry over Roger Stone’s sentencing

The Justice Department dramatically reversed its recommendation for prison time after Trump voiced his objections

Published February 13, 2020 1:10PM (EST)

Attorney General nominee William Barr speaks before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019. (AP/Carolyn Kaster)
Attorney General nominee William Barr speaks before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019. (AP/Carolyn Kaster)

This article originally appeared on AlterNet.

With Democrats demanding answers over the U.S. Department of Justice's sudden reversal in its sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone, Attorney General William Barr has agreed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee in March.

Politico's Kyle Cheney reports that this "arrangement" comes following "Barr's apparent intervention" in Stone's sentencing.

Last year, Stone was convicted on seven criminal counts, including witness tampering. On Monday, the DOJ released a sentencing memo that recommended seven to nine years in federal prison for Stone. But after President Donald Trump posted a tweet angrily voicing his objections, the DOJ dramatically reversed its recommendations the following day and and advocated for a much more lenient sentence.

On Wednesday, Trump posted another tweet — this one praising Barr for taking charge in the matter.

Politico's Cheney notes, "Democrats have a long list of issues they're likely to press Barr on, including his involvement in decisions surrounding Trump's decision to withhold military funds from Ukraine last year, and his handling of a whistleblower complaint about the episode that DOJ determined should be withheld from Congress, overruling an intelligence community inspector general."


By Alex Henderson

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Donald Trump Politics White House William Barr