Roger Stone sentencing: Trump administration 'gravest threat to rule of law in America in a generation', say Democrats

Republican operative found guilty on seven counts

Roger Stone appealed to the president to pardon him after being found guilty last year (Getty)

Donald Trump’s administration is the gravest threat to the rule of law in a generation, a top Democrat has claimed amid outcry over the sentencing of Roger Stone.

One prosecutor has quit and at least one other withdrawn from the case, after the department of justice announced it would seek a shorter sentence for the onetime Trump ally and confidant.

It made the announcement after the president complained about the seven to nine years in jail being sought by prosecutors, after Stone, 67, was found guilty to seven counts of lying to Congress, obstruction and witness tampering.

“This is a horrible and very unfair situation,” Mr Trump wrote on Twitter early on Tuesday, about Stone, a close friend over a number of decades.

Officials then said the DOJ intended to override the prosecutors recommendations and seek a less harsh sentence for the charges, related to special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s two-year investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, and possible links to the Trump campaign.

When news of the about-face emerged, two prosecutors connected with the case said they no longer wanted anything to do with it.

Democrats were quick to pounce on what they said was clear wrongdoing by the president and his administration.

“Coupled with the president’s blatant retaliation against those who helped expose his wrongdoing, the Trump administration poses the gravest threat to the rule of law in America in a generation,” said congressman Adam Schiff, one of Democrats who “prosecuted” Mr Trump’s impeachment case in Senate, and where the president was acquitted.

He added: “I do not take a position on the proper prison term for Mr Stone, but it would be a blatant abuse of power if president Trump has in fact intervened to reverse the recommendations of career prosecutors at the department of justice.”

Another Democrat, senator Chris Van Hollen tweeted: “They are turning us into a banana republic.”

Additional reporting by Reuters