'A victim of Russia Hoax': Trump commutes longtime adviser Roger Stone's prison term

United States President Donald Trump on Friday commuted the sentence of his former advisor and long time ally Roger Stone just days before Stone was to start his 40-month sentence in a federal prison in Jesup, Georgia.

Commutation of a sentence reduces the sentence, either totally or partially, according to the Department of Justice's Office of the Pardon Attorney. A commutation can also release a person from a fine imposed at sentencing, at least the part of the fine that has not been paid already.

“Roger Stone has already suffered greatly,” the White House said in a statement. “He was treated very unfairly, as were many others in this case. Roger Stone is now a free man!”

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What was Roger Stone convicted of? 

Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation had documented Russian interference in the 2016 election to boost Trump’s candidacy. Roger Stone, a close aide of Trump was convicted of lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstructing the House investigation into whether the Trump campaign had any Russian intervention to help him win the 2016 election.

The White House had said in a statement: "Roger Stone is a victim of the Russia Hoax that the Left and its allies in the media perpetuated for years in an attempt to undermine the Trump Presidency."

“There was never any collusion between the Trump Campaign, or the Trump Administration, with Russia. Such collusion was never anything other than a fantasy of partisans unable to accept the result of the 2016 election,” the White House had said.

However, the Democrats have condemned Trump’s action as an assault on the rule of law, alleging of Trump misusing his powers to save his corrupt allies.

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