type: timeline_event
President Trump commuted Roger Stone's 40-month prison sentence days before he was to report to prison for lying to Congress and witness tampering to protect Trump. Stone was convicted on seven felonies for obstructing the House Intelligence Committee's Russia investigation, lying about his contacts with WikiLeaks, and threatening witness Randy Credico with messages like 'prepare to die.' The commutation came after Stone publicly threatened to reveal damaging information about Trump, telling Howard Stern 'Trump knows I was under enormous pressure to turn on him. It would have eased my situation considerably. But I didn't.' Attorney General Barr called the commutation inappropriate. Republican Senator Mitt Romney said it was 'unprecedented, historic corruption.' The commutation rewarded Stone for protecting Trump from the Russia investigation, establishing that loyalty would be rewarded with immunity from criminal consequences. Trump later gave Stone a full pardon in December 2020.