President Trump’s commutation of Roger Stone’s sentence — over the objections of some aides and without the involvement of his administration’s pardon office — allowed an old friend to jump to the front of the slowest and longest line of federal inmates seeking mercy in decades.
The grant of clemency to Stone is one of only 36 Trump has granted, with 180 denied. After more than three years in office, Trump’s six predecessors had acted on hundreds or thousands of petitions for clemency.
Stone is emblematic of the very few people to receive clemency from Trump, with most being political allies who appealed directly to the White House instead of following Justice Department protocol. Continue reading.