President Donald Trump commuted the prison sentence of his longtime political confidant Roger Stone on Friday, just days before he was set to report to prison.Stone had been sentenced in February to three years and four months in prison for lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstructing the House investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election. He was set to report to prison by Tuesday.Stone told The Associated Press that Trump had called him earlier Friday to inform him of the commutation. Stone was celebrating in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with conservative friends and said he had to change rooms because there were 바카라 게임 웹사이트�too many people opening bottles of Champagne here.바카라 게임 웹사이트�White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany called Stone a 바카라 게임 웹사이트�victim of the Russia Hoax.바카라 게임 웹사이트�바카라 게임 웹사이트�Not only was Mr. Stone charged by overzealous prosecutors pursing a case that never should have existed, and arrested in an operation that never should have been approved, but there were also serious questions about the jury in the case,바카라 게임 웹사이트� she said in a statement.A commutation does not erase Stone바카라 게임 웹사이트�s felony convictions in the same way a pardon would, but it would protect him from serving prison time as a result.Democrats were angered by Trump's decision, with House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff calling it 바카라 게임 웹사이트�offensive to the rule of law and principles of justice," and Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez asking, 바카라 게임 웹사이트�Is there any power Trump won바카라 게임 웹사이트�t abuse?바카라 게임 웹사이트�The action, which Trump had foreshadowed in recent days, reflects his lingering rage over the Russia investigation and is a testament to his conviction that he and his associates were mistreated by agents and prosecutors. His administration has been eager to rewrite the narrative of special counsel Robert Mueller바카라 게임 웹사이트�s Russia investigation, with Trump바카라 게임 웹사이트�s own Justice Department moving in May to dismiss the criminal case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn.Stone told the AP that the president did not mention the statuses of Flynn or his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, also ensnared in the Russia probe.바카라 게임 웹사이트�What am I going to do now? I am going to work as hard as I can to make sure that Mike Flynn gets final justice," Stone said. 바카라 게임 웹사이트�Mike Flynn is an American war hero and he바카라 게임 웹사이트�s done absolutely nothing wrong.바카라 게임 웹사이트�Stone, for his part, had been open about his desire for a pardon or commutation, appealing for the president바카라 게임 웹사이트�s help in a series of Instagram posts in which he maintained that his life could be in jeopardy if imprisoned during a pandemic. He had recently sought to postpone his surrender date by months after getting a brief extension from the judge.Before his Feb. 20 sentencing, the Justice Department leadership backed away from its initial recommendation just hours after Trump tweeted his displeasure at the recommendation of up to nine years in prison, saying it had been too harsh. Trump's tweeting led to a brief flare-up between him and Attorney General William Barr. Trump had repeatedly publicly inserted himself into Stone바카라 게임 웹사이트�s case, including just before Stone바카라 게임 웹사이트�s sentencing, when he suggested in a tweet that Stone was being subjected to a different standard than several prominent Democrats. He railed that the conviction 바카라 게임 웹사이트�should be thrown out바카라 게임 웹사이트� and called the Justice Department바카라 게임 웹사이트�s initial sentencing recommendation 바카라 게임 웹사이트�horrible and very unfair.바카라 게임 웹사이트�바카라 게임 웹사이트�Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice!바카라 게임 웹사이트� he wrote.Stone, a larger-than-life political character who embraced his reputation as a dirty trickster, was the sixth Trump aide or adviser to have been convicted of charges brought as part of Mueller바카라 게임 웹사이트�s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.A longtime Trump friend and informal adviser, Stone had boasted during the campaign that he was in contact with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange through a trusted intermediary and hinted at inside knowledge of WikiLeaks바카라 게임 웹사이트� plans to release more than 19,000 emails hacked from the servers of the Democratic National Committee.But Stone denied any wrongdoing and consistently criticized the case against him as politically motivated. He did not take the stand during his trial, did not speak at his sentencing, and his lawyers did not call any witnesses in his defense.Stone was convicted in November on all seven counts of an indictment that accused him of lying to Congress, tampering with a witness and obstructing the House investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to tip the 2016 election. Prosecutors had originally recommended Stone serve seven to nine years in federal prison. But, in a highly unusual move, Barr reversed that decision after a Trump tweet and recommended a more lenient punishment, prompting a mini-revolt inside the Justice Department, with the entire prosecution team resigning from the case.Video: DOJ prosecutor says Roger Stone received breaks, leniencyDepartment officials have vehemently denied Barr was responding to Trump바카라 게임 웹사이트�s criticism and have insisted there was no contact with the White House over the decision. Barr has also pointed out that the judge, in imposing a 40-month sentence, had agreed with him that the original sentencing recommendation was excessive.Barr, who was attorney general during Stone바카라 게임 웹사이트�s trial last fall, has said the prosecution was justified, and the Justice Department did not support Stone바카라 게임 웹사이트�s more recent effort to put off his surrender date. Though the Justice Department raised concerns about the handling of Flynn바카라 게임 웹사이트�s case, including what it said were irregularities about his FBI interview, prosecutors did not point to any similar issues or problems with the Stone prosecution.Even so, the pardon will almost certainly contribute to the portrait of a president determined 바카라 게임 웹사이트� particularly in an election year 바카라 게임 웹사이트� to undo the effects of a Russia investigation that has shadowed his administration from the outset, and to intervene on behalf of political allies.Trump, meanwhile, had long kept the door open to a reprieve.바카라 게임 웹사이트�You바카라 게임 웹사이트�re going to see what happens. Let바카라 게임 웹사이트�s see what happens,바카라 게임 웹사이트� he said when asked in February whether Stone deserved prison time, adding, 바카라 게임 웹사이트�Somebody has to stick up for the people.바카라 게임 웹사이트�He told Sean Hannity in an interview Thursday night that it was a 바카라 게임 웹사이트�disgrace they didn바카라 게임 웹사이트�t give him a retrial.바카라 게임 웹사이트� Asked if he was considering a pardon, he added: 바카라 게임 웹사이트�I am always thinking.바카라 게임 웹사이트�That language prompted preemptive rebuke from House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff, who tweeted after the sentencing that 바카라 게임 웹사이트�to pardon Stone when his crimes were committed to protect Trump would be a breathtaking act of corruption.바카라 게임 웹사이트�To view our earlier story regarding the expected commutation announcement, click here.