Federal prosecutors are urging a judge to sentence Trump ally and former campaign adviser Roger Stone to up to nine years in prison for his role in impeding an investigation into Trump’s 2016 campaign.
His crimes were uncovered during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the election.
According to the New York Times, prosecutors believe that Stone should get between seven and nine years in prison after he was found guilty of lying to Congress, obstruction, and witnesses tampering as he tried to stop investigators from discovering how the Trump campaign tried to use stolen Democratic documents to its benefit.
Evidence presented during Stone’s trial showed that in the months leading up to the 2016 election, Stone tried to get hacked emails that Russia had taken from Democratic computers and sent to WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks then released the information from the emails in order to deliberately target Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Stone, for his part, briefed Trump on WikiLeaks’ plans “every chance he got.”
“Stone’s actions were not a one-off mistake in judgment. Nor were his false statements made in the heat of the moment. They were nowhere close to that,” the prosecutors said. “Stone’s conduct over the past two years shows the low regard in which he holds the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation and this very criminal case.”
However, while prosecutors are arguing for what they believe is a just sentence, Trump is defending his old buddy, calling the prison recommendation “horrible and very unfair” as well as a “miscarriage of justice.”
“This is a horrible and very unfair situation. The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them,” the president tweeted. “Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice!”
Stone is due to be sentenced on Feb. 20.
