
Few hours after the US President Donald Trump commuted the jail sentence for Roger Stone and the White House called him a 'free man', former special counsel Robert Mueller has come out to defend his officer's prosecution and said that Stone is still a convicted felon.
Talking about Stone's misdeed, Mueller wrote, "Congress also investigated and sought information from Stone. A jury later determined he lied repeatedly to members of Congress. He lied about the identity of his intermediary to WikiLeaks. He lied about the existence of written communications with his intermediary. He lied by denying he had communicated with the Trump campaign about the timing of WikiLeaks' releases. He in fact updated senior campaign officials repeatedly about WikiLeaks. And he tampered with a witness, imploring him to stonewall Congress," Mueller wrote in the op-ed piece published in the Washington Post on Saturday evening.
Mueller feels that the friendship of Stone and Trump may have benefited Stone but the truth is that Stone still is a convicted felon and "rightly so".
"The jury ultimately convicted Stone of obstruction of a congressional investigation, five counts of making false statements to Congress and tampering with a witness. Because his sentence has been commuted, he will not go to prison. But his conviction stands," he wrote.
Defending the sentence, Mueller said the decision was taken after gathering all the facts and information. He further added that all the investigators and prosecutors behind this case acted with the highest integrity and dismissed all claims against the team of investigators and prosecutors.
"We made every decision in Stone's case, as in all our cases, based solely on the facts and the law and in accordance with the rule of law. The women and men who conducted these investigations and prosecutions acted with the highest integrity. Claims to the contrary are false," Mueller wrote.
Trump's move to commute Stone saved him from serving a 40-months long sentence in prison. The decision taken by Trump has had mixed reactions, although many believe that this was yet another move to save and assist a political ally, especially with the US Presidential elections coming up in few months.