Amid criticism of President Donald Trump’s decision to commute former campaign aide Roger Stone’s prison sentence, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany is defending the move.
“The Roger Stone clemency was a very important moment for justice in this country,” McEnany said during a press briefing on Monday. “You had a completely bogus Russian witch hunt that found nothing, and in order to justify the waste of taxpayer dollars, you had Robert Mueller charging people with process crimes.”
She continued to allege that there are “two standards of justice,” with one that favors the opponents of the president and a different standard for supporters of Trump.Â
“The last time I checked, they didn’t have 29 FBI agents wearing tactical gear showing up at their house in a predawn raid wielding M-4 rifles and sweeping across the lawn, as with Roger Stone … Instead, [Andrew] McCabe and [James] Clapper and [John] Brennan and these guys are given lucrative contracts, books, contributor ships. There are really two standards of justice in this country, as Adam Schiff noted, fortunately, he doesn’t have the facts to back up the way he meant that term.”
Watch the video below:
Press Sec. Kayleigh McEnany: "There really are two standards of justice in this country." pic.twitter.com/ASbT6g2NCx
— The Hill (@thehill) July 13, 2020
Stone was convicted on charges of lying to Congress, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering.
But on Friday, days before Stone was set to report to prison to begin his sentence, Trump announced he would commute his sentence. In a statement, a White House spokesperson said, “Roger Stone has already suffered greatly.”
“He was treated very unfairly, as were many others in this case. Roger Stone is now a free man!” the statement added.
However, the move drew swift criticism from House Democrats, who called it an act of “staggering corruption.”
Additionally, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) signaled that lawmakers would unveil legislation aimed at limiting the president’s clemency powers.
“We will have legislation that says a president cannot commute or pardon or offer clemency to anybody who commits a crime … is convicted of a crime that affects the president’s behavior and his culpability,” Pelosi said on Sunday.
