Trial team quits Roger Stone case in dispute over sentence

(AP) The four lawyers who prosecuted Roger Stone have quit the case after the Justice Department overruled them and said it would lower the amount of prison time it would seek for President Donald Trump’s longtime ally.

The resignations raise questions over whether Trump had at least indirectly exerted his will on a Justice Department he often views as an arm of the White House. Trump and the Justice Department say there was no communication.

The Republican president blasted the original sentencing recommendation as “horrible and unfair.” On Wednesday he tweeted congratulations to Attorney General William Barr “for taking charge” of the case. Stone has denied wrongdoing and called the case politically motivated.