WTF Just Happened Today

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

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1/ Trump defended Roger Stone in a series of tweets while attacking the federal judge and prosecutors involved in the case. Trump also “congratulated” Attorney General William Barr for “taking charge of the case” – confirming that Barr intervened in Stone’s sentencing recommendation. Trump claimed that Stone was treated “very badly” and suggested that prosecutors “ought to apologize to him.” Trump also implied that U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is presiding over the case, was biased because of her role in the sentencing of Paul Manafort and dismissal of a lawsuit against Hillary Clinton. Stone is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 20. When asked if he would pardon Stone, Trump replied: “I don’t want to say that yet, but I tell you what, people were hurt viciously and badly by these corrupt people.” (Washington Post / New York Times)

• The fourth federal prosecutor resigned from Roger Stone’s case after the Justice Department announced that it planned to reduce its sentencing recommendation. Michael Marando’s departure means the entire prosecutorial team working on the case has resigned in protest over the DOJ’s decision. (Washington Post / NBC News / Associate Press / CNN)

• A federal judge has denied Stone’s request for a new trial. The denial was decided last week – before the Justice Department’s revised sentencing recommendations. (CNN)

2/ Trump withdrew Jessie Liu’s nomination to become the Treasury Department’s terrorism and financial crimes undersecretary because of her office’s handling of the Roger Stone and Michael Flynn cases. While head of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, Liu supervised the court proceedings for Trump aides and Mueller defendants, including Rick Gates, Flynn, and Stone. Liu served in the role from September 2017 until Jan. 31, and coinciding with her departure, the U.S. attorney’s office changed its sentencing stances in both Flynn and Stone’s cases. Trump pulled Liu’s nomination two days before her scheduled confirmation hearing. (Axios / Washington Post / NBC News /CNN)

3/ Attorney General William Barr will testify to the House Judiciary Committee on March 31. Democrats signaled they plan to question Barr about three topics: overruling prosecutors on Stone’s recommended sentence, the arrangement for Rudy Giuliani to provide information on Ukraine, and the pulled nomination of Jessie Liu. (