Warren Calls on Barr to Resign After Prosecutors Quit in Roger Stone’s Case

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called on Attorney General 👤William Barr to resign on Wednesday, just a day after controversy erupted over the sentencing of former Trump advisor 👤Roger Stone.

This is not the first time Warren has called on Barr to resign, either. She made similar calls for him to step down over how he handled the release of Robert Mueller’s report on Russia’s election interference in 2016.

Now, though, Warren is calling on Barr to resign after four federal prosecutors withdrew from a case against Stone when the Justice Department abruptly changed its sentencing request for the Trump ally. After news reports broke that federal prosecutors suggested a seven to nine-year sentence for Stone, who was convicted of lying to Congress and witness tampering, Trump sent out a tweet criticizing the sentencing.

Not long after, the Justice Department withdrew its recommendation and put forward a lighter sentencing guideline. Many interpreted the move as Trump stepping across the sacred boundary between the president and his Justice Department. The four prosecutors on the case withdrew and criticism immediately mounted.

“Congress must act immediately to rein in our lawless Attorney General,” Warren said on Twitter. “Barr should resign or face impeachment. And Congress should use spending power to defund the AG’s authority to interfere with anything that affects Trump, his friends, or his elections.”

A DOJ spokesperson denied that it consulted with the White House and said the decision to change the sentencing guidelines was not made due to President 👤Donald Trump’s tweet but was already under consideration Monday night. Trump later congratulated Barr on Twitter, saying he was “taking charge of a case that was totally out of control” and “should not have even be brought.”

Warren posted a lengthy Twitter thread in her call for Barr to step down, imploring voters that “we are not powerless” to fight back.

She also tied her calls into her current bid for the Democratic nomination for president.

“I am the only candidate to propose an independent DOJ task force to investigate crimes by Trump administration officials,” she said. “Every Democratic candidate must commit to it—so Trump officials know they will be held accountable by career prosecutors once he is out of office.”

Even some Republicans joined in on the criticism. Sen. 👤Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters that she “didn’t like this chain of events.”

Given the strong support Barr has from the president, it’s unlikely he would step down. But ultimately, the sentencing of Stone will come at the discretion of the judge in the case — Amy Berman Jackson. She’s expected to question the remaining DOJ lawyer about why the sentencing guidelines were changed and she will ultimately decide how long, or if, Stone will go to prison.