A district court judge in Washington, D.C., put out a rare statement dismissing the idea that outside pressure may influence judges’ decisions after President Trump weighed in on Roger Stone’s sentencing.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge Beryl Howell released a statement on Thursday defending the integrity of the judicial system. On Tuesday, the Justice Department announced it would seek a lower sentence than originally planned in the case of longtime Republican operative Roger Stone, causing the four prosecutors working the case to resign in protest.
“The Judges of this Court base their sentencing decisions on careful consideration of the actual record in the case before them; the applicable sentencing guidelines and statutory factors; the submissions of the parties, the Probation Office and victims; and their own judgment and experience,” Howell said in a statement. “Public criticism or pressure is not a factor.”
U.S. District Judge Amy Jackson is Stone’s sentencing judge and works on the D.C. Circuit Court under Howell.
Trump cheered the Justice Department’s decision on Wednesday and said Attorney General William Barr was “taking charge of a case that was totally out of control and perhaps should not have even been brought.”
Trump’s tweeting has apparently hindered Barr’s work. The attorney general appeared on ABC News on Thursday and said that Trump’s use of Twitter to weigh in on Justice Department acts makes “it impossible for me to do my job.”
