Former federal prosecutors and Justice Department officials are urging current employees to file reports to the DOJ inspector general and Congress, while calling for Attorney General William Barr's resignation, The New York Times reported.
The calls came via a Protect Democracy advocacy group letter signed by more than 1,100 ex-employees, per the Times. The letter comes amid President Donald Trump's attacks on the sentencing recommendation of former Trump campaign associate Roger Stone and Barr's intervention.
The report claims Protect Democracy is a bipartisan advocacy group, but it was founded in 2017, thus far only attacking the Trump administration. It previously gathered signatures that the Mueller report was enough to pursue obstruction of justice against Trump.
"Each of us strongly condemns President Trump's and Attorney General Barr's interference in the fair administration of justice," the open letter read, per the report, and adds the actions "require Mr. Barr to resign."
Prosecutors, who have since resigned from the case, originally called for a stiff 7- to 9-year prison sentence for Roger Stone's lying to Congress and other charges. Trump lashed out at the harsh recommendation and Barr downgraded the recommendations to something more lenient.
Trump backers and legal experts like Alan Dershowitz on Newsmax TV have called the initial harsh guidelines a "trial penalty" for taking the case to court in lieu of a plea bargain. Dershowitz, a self-proclaimed Democrat, also argued Stone's conviction in court does not deserve a maximum penalty because he is a first-time offender and an older man.
The post-acquittal exchange has angered Democrats who are still reeling from failing to impeach the president in an election year.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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