Donald Trump's longtime ally Roger Stone was sentenced Thursday to 40 months in prison for impeding a congressional investigation, in a case that ignited a firestorm over the US president's political interference in the justice system.
Stone, a veteran Republican operative and one of the president's oldest confidants, was convicted in November of lying to Congress, tampering with a witness and obstructing the House investigation into whether the Trump campaign conspired with Russia to cheat in the 2016 election.
"The truth still matters," said US District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson as she handed down the sentence to Stone, who will remain free while his request for a new trial is considered.
"Roger Stone's insistence that it doesn't, his belligerence, his pride in his own lies are a threat to our most fundamental institutions, to the very foundation of our democracy."
Mr Trump said soon after he believed Stone had a "very good chance" of being cleared in the long run, accusing the jury without evidence of being "tainted."
The president controversially commuted the sentences this week of nearly a dozen criminals with links to his friends and political allies - including a corrupt politician and a tax fraud police chief.
But he ruled out immediately issuing a Stone the pardon many had been expecting.
"I'm going to let this process play out," he said at an event in Las Vegas. "At some point I'll make a determination... We're waiting."
Mr Trump sparked outrage by decrying a "miscarriage of justice" after prosecutors he smeared as corrupt recommended Stone be jailed for up to nine years, in accordance with federal sentencing guidelines.
The President had also taken to Twitter to attack the jurors in the case and Ms Jackson, who last year jailed former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort for unlawful lobbying and witness tampering.
Roger Stone arrives for his sentencing at federal court in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020 Source: AP
Attorney General Bill Barr, who has been blasted for being too close to Mr Trump, personally intervened to have the "extreme and excessive" recommendation withdrawn, prompting all four prosecutors to quit the case.
Mr Trump took to Twitter to praise Mr Barr for getting involved in the "totally out of control" process after a new prosecutor suggested a more lenient sentence of three to four years.
Stone is the sixth aide of Mr Trump - who was impeached last year for abusing his power but acquitted by the Senate - to be convicted of charges arising from special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian election interference.
Mr Barr said the president's comments had had no impact on his the decision, but has found himself vilified by Democrats who accuse him and the president of undermining the rule of law.
In addition, more than 2,000 former Justice Department officials have signed a statement calling for Mr Barr to resign.
"A person should not be given special treatment in a criminal prosecution because they are a close political ally of the president," the open letter said.
