Federal Judges Association calls for emergency meeting amid DOJ intervention in Roger Stone case
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A national association of federal judges reportedly called an emergency meeting Tuesday to tackle mounting concerns about President Trump and senior Justice Department officials’ intervention in cases involving Trump associates.
USA Today first reported that the independent Federal Judges Association would hold the meeting.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Philadelphia U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe, who leads the group of more than 1,000 federal judges, told USA Today that the group “could not wait” until their originally scheduled spring conference to address the issues.
The organization did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
The emergency meeting comes after a tumultuous week at the Justice Department. Last week, U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr intervened in the cases involving Trump associates Roger Stone and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}More than 1,100 former Justice Department employees later signed an online petition urging him to resign.
Last Monday, federal prosecutors recommended a sentence of between 87 and 108 months in prison for Stone after he was convicted on seven counts of obstruction, witness tampering, and making false statements to Congress on charges that stemmed from former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.
In a stunning reversal, as Fox News first reported, the DOJ overruled the prosecutors on the case, scaling back the proposed sentence for Stone, which immediately led Democrats to accuse Trump of interfering in the process by earlier tweeting about his displeasure with the Justice Department. Trump denied it, while still complaining the original sentencing recommendation was overly harsh.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Barr, though, in an interview last week spoke up for the Justice Department's independence and urged Trump against tweeting on justice matters, saying it makes it “impossible” for him to do his job.
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“I think it’s time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases,” Barr told ABC News. “I’m not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody…whether it’s Congress, a newspaper editorial board, or the president.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News reported shortly afterward that Barr had appointed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri Jeff Jensen to review the case of Flynn. Justice Department officials told Fox News Jensen would be working hand-in-hand with Brandon Van Grack, the lead prosecutor in the case.
Flynn’s case has gone through years of twists and turns, with sentencing postponed repeatedly over the last two years. Flynn’s supporters have insisted he is innocent but was forced to plead guilty when his son was threatened with prosecution and he exhausted his financial resources.
Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI about his communications with former Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak, also as part of Mueller’s probe.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Barr’s move to tap Jensen came weeks after Flynn and his attorney Sidney Powell moved to withdraw his guilty plea, citing “the government’s bad faith, vindictiveness, and breach of the plea agreement.” The move to withdraw the plea came just days after the Justice Department reversed course to recommend up to six months of prison time for him, alleging he was not fully cooperating or accepting responsibility for his actions. The Justice Department, though, later backed down.