Roger Stone — who was part of the Trump campaign’s effort to collude with the Russian government and then helped to cover it up — is set to report to prison on July 14. Stone was convicted of lying to Congress during its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election; as the judge noted in his case, Stone “was prosecuted for covering up for Trump.”
Stone refused to testify against Trump and now Trump has all but said that he will pardon Stone, stating that Stone “can sleep well at night” in response to a complaint that he would serve a lengthy prison sentence.
In addition to being a brazen abuse of power, a pardon could put both Trump and Stone at risk of further criminal liability for conspiracy to obstruct justice. And, in doing so, Trump could create legal liability that is impossible to wipe away through a subsequent pardon.
The above excerpt was originally published in Just Security.
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