(CNN) - US President Donald Trump commuted the prison sentence of his friend and former political adviser Roger Stone on Friday, days before Stone was presented to federal prison in Georgia, according to the White House.
Trump and Stone spoke Friday, according to two sources.
Stone was convicted last year of five counts of lying to Congress, one count of witness tampering, and one count of obstruction of procedure in a congressional commission. Among other things, the jury unanimously decided that it had misled Congress about its communications with Trump campaign officials in 2016.
According to prosecutors, Stone lied during testimony and failed to release documents to Congress in 2017 that showed that he had attempted to contact WikiLeaks the previous year. He lied about five facts, hiding his attempt to use intermediaries to obtain information that could help then-candidate Trump in the elections against Hillary Clinton.
OPINION : Trump should choose Kim Kardashian West as his presidential forgiveness adviser
Prosecutors initially asked for between seven and nine years in prison, but Attorney General William Barr retracted that recommendation, hours after Trump criticized it on Twitter as too harsh.
Four prosecutors withdrew from the case in response to Barr's decision. Two new supervisors from the Washington United States Attorney's Office stepped in to handle Stone's sentences, and a new sentencing memo was released asking for "much less" time.
Stone was eventually sentenced to 40 months in prison earlier this year.
Rapid developments in the case raised questions about the department's independence from political pressure and prompted Democrats in Congress to call the Justice Department inspector general to investigate.
Trump has faced immense pressure from some of his political allies to forgive Stone after he was sentenced to more than three years in prison.
After requesting a 60-day delay in the date of his report citing the current coronavirus pandemic, a federal judge delayed Stone's sentence by two weeks last month, according to court documents, ordering him to spend that time at his home essentially. quarantined. He was scheduled to appear in prison on Tuesday. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals denied an emergency request by Stone to delay his prison sentence.
Several of Trump's advisers have expressed concern in recent months about the possible political repercussions of his forgiving his former adviser. But Stone's allies have lobbied Trump for months to release him, telling him that Stone faced devastating legal fees.
Not all lobbying was done behind closed doors. Some of Stone's closest confidants, including her daughter and friend Michael Caputo, who now works in the administration, have pleaded for forgiveness on Fox News about the Tucker Carlson show, which Trump views religiously.
When asked by Fox News host Sean Hannity if he considered a pardon or commutation for Stone, Trump said during a phone interview Thursday: "I'm always thinking."
"You'll be looking like everyone else in this case," he said.
In another interview, with radio host Howie Carr, Trump denounced Stone's treatment at the hands of law enforcement and said he can issue his presidential pardon statement.
"I was being framed. It was horrible treatment. He was treated so badly, "said Trump.
MIRA : Roger Stone must appear in prison on June 30
He said Stone was "praying" for forgiveness before the day he is due to appear in prison on July 14, Trump said Thursday, those prayers may be worth it.
"If you say you are praying, your prayer can be answered," Trump said. "Let's see what happens."
He said Stone is a "good person" and "a character."
CNN's Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.
Roger stone
