White House officials said that former National Security Council (NSC) member Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman created a hostile work environment, part of a list of allegations sent to the Pentagon after his testimony in President Trump’s impeachment...

Roger Stone, the self-proclaimed dirty trickster whose sentence for lying to Congress was recently commuted by President Donald Trump, complained to Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Monday night that the “system” was “fixed.”Days before Stone was to report to prison for 40 months, the president finally did what he had long hinted at and commuted his longtime adviser’s sentence, describing Stone as “a victim of the Russia Hoax that the Left and its allies in the media perpetuated for years in an attempt to undermine the Trump Presidency.”In Stone’s first television interview since he was spared jail, he immediately praised Hannity and fellow Fox News host Tucker Carlson, a longtime friend of Stone’s, for advocating for his clemency.“You have been a tremendous friend,” the conservative political operative bellowed. “You have done a great job of keeping people informed. But I have to really single out your Fox News colleague Tucker Carlson.”Noting that Carlson took up his cause early on, Stone lauded the Fox News star for not being afraid to “take on the judge” and encouraging him whenever he became “discouraged.”“He’s a man of incredible loyalty and he’s a great friend,” he added. “He may be the best friend a man can have, so my hat’s off to him.”Stone also thanked several other pro-Trump figures for having his back, including Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), saying he hopes to “live long enough to see [Gaetz] in the White House.”Stone spent much of the interview repeating the president’s favorite refrain about the Russia investigation, calling it a “hoax” while saying prosecutors wanted him to flip on Trump because they knew there was “no Russian collusion.”“I didn’t have to think about it very long,” he declared. “I said absolutely not. There was no circumstance under which I would bear false witness against the president.”“What I said has been consistent, that I would not lie against my friend of 40 years so they could use it for impeachment,” Stone added. “They wanted me to be the ham in their ham sandwich because they knew the Mueller report, particularly on Russia, was a dud.”Hannity, also a close confidant of the president’s, grumbled about the number of Trump associates who have been prosecuted and convicted. Hannity said he is “losing faith in the system,” and Stone said he agreed with the Fox star.“I’m afraid this is a fixed system,” Stone asserted, pointing to the fact that he’d lost his appeal for a delay in his prison sentence.Stone went on to heap additional praise on the president, saying it was a “courageous act” for Trump to give him clemency since many of his White House advisers were telling him not to do it in an election year.“He’s a man of great justice and fairness,” he exclaimed. “He’s a man of enormous courage. I knew he would take some shots for this, but I think most people, most fair-minded people, understand he saved my life and at least on paper he gave me a chance to fight for vindication.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

The president commuted the prison sentence of his long-time associate on Friday, prompting outcry from politicians on both sides of the aisle The White House statementIn a statement released on Friday evening, the White House denounced the prosecution of Stone on charges stemming from “the Russia Hoax” investigation. “Roger Stone has already suffered greatly,” the statement read. “He was treated very unfairly, as were many others in this case. Roger Stone is now a free man!”> Roger Stone was targeted by an illegal Witch Hunt that never should have taken place. It is the other side that are criminals, including Biden and Obama, who spied on my campaign - AND GOT CAUGHT!> > — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 11, 2020 Robert Mueller, former special counsel“The work of the special counsel’s office – its report, indictments, guilty pleas and convictions – should speak for itself,” Robert Mueller wrote in an op-ed article for the Washington Post on Saturday.“But I feel compelled to respond both to broad claims that our investigation was illegitimate and our motives were improper, and to specific claims that Roger Stone was a victim of our office ... Stone was prosecuted and convicted because he committed federal crimes. He remains a convicted felon, and rightly so.”Mueller said that “the special counsel’s office identified two principal operations directed at our election: hacking and dumping Clinton campaign emails, and an online social media campaign to disparage the Democratic candidate.“We also identified numerous links between the Russian government and Trump campaign personnel – Stone among them. We did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired with the Russian government …“The investigation did, however, establish that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome. [And] that the campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts.” Senator Mitt Romney, Utah, Republican> Unprecedented, historic corruption: an American president commutes the sentence of a person convicted by a jury of lying to shield that very president.> > — Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) July 11, 2020Romney, who was also the lone GOP senator to vote to convict the president during his impeachment trial earlier this year, attacked Trump’s move. “Unprecedented, historic corruption: an American president commutes the sentence of a person convicted by a jury of lying to shield that very president,” Romney tweeted. Nancy Pelosi, House speaker, DemocratPelosi called the commutation an act of “staggering corruption”, saying legislation is needed to prevent a president from pardoning, or commuting the sentence of, someone who acted to shield that president from prosecution. Speaking on Sunday to CNN’s State of the Union, Pelosi said: “It’s a threat to our national security”. Senator Lindsey Graham, South Carolina, RepublicanGraham, a Trump confidant, said Stone was convicted of a nonviolent, first-time offense and the president was justified in commuting the sentence.Graham, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, tweeted on Sunday that he would now grant Democrat requests to call Mueller to give evidence before the committee in light of his op-ed for the Washington Post.> Apparently Mr. Mueller is willing - and also capable - of defending the Mueller investigation through an oped in the Washington Post.> > — Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) July 12, 2020“Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have previously requested Mr Mueller appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify about his investigation. That request will be granted,” Graham tweeted.“Apparently Mr Mueller is willing - and also capable - of defending the Mueller investigation through an oped in the Washington Post.”Graham is leading an investigation by Republicans on the judiciary committee into the origins of Mueller’s investigation. Democrats say the investigation is a move to appease Trump ahead of November’s election. Senator Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania, RepublicanToomey called Trump’s move a “mistake,” noting that the US attorney general, William Barr, had called Stone’s prosecution “righteous”.“The president clearly has the legal and constitutional authority to grant clemency for federal crimes,” Toomey said in a statement. “However, this authority should be used judiciously and very rarely by any president.” Mark Sanford, Republican> So much for the RepublicanParty being the party of law and order. Have we not lost our minds in not condemning as a party the president’s pardon of corruption by RogerStone.> > — Mark Sanford (@MarkSanford) July 11, 2020Sanford, the former South Carolina congressman who made a short-lived primary challenge to Trump, tweeted: “So much for the Republican Party being the party of law and order. Have we not lost our minds in not condemning as a party the president’s pardon of corruption by Roger Stone”. Representative Adam Schiff, California, DemocratSchiff, chairman of the House intelligence committee – the congressional panel Stone was convicted of lying to about aspects of the Trump-Russia investigation – called the decision “destructive of the criminal justice system and the rule of law” on Saturday morning. Governor Larry Hogan, Maryland, RepublicanHogan raised questions about Trump’s decision , and said “it’s certainly going to hurt politically.”Speaking to NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday he added that he doesn’t “know what the future holds in November” for the Republican party. Hogan, rumored to be eyeing a run for the White House in 2024 said that the GOP needs to be a “bigger tent party” in the future.“I know that the Republican Party is going to be looking at what happens after President Trump and whether that’s in four months or four years,” Hogan said. “And I think they’re going to be looking to, ‘How do we go about becoming a bigger tent party?’”

US special counsel defends his investigation into allegations of corruption during 2016 electionThe former special counsel Robert Mueller made a rare move on Saturday to publicly defend his two-year investigation into allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election – and to castigate Donald Trump’s decision to commute Roger Stone’s prison sentence.Mueller wrote an opinion article for the Washington Post [paywall] published under the headline “Roger Stone remains a convicted felon, and rightly so”.“The work of the special counsel’s office – its report, indictments, guilty pleas and convictions – should speak for itself,” he wrote.“But I feel compelled to respond both to broad claims that our investigation was illegitimate and our motives were improper, and to specific claims that Roger Stone was a victim of our office ...“Stone was prosecuted and convicted because he committed federal crimes. He remains a convicted felon, and rightly so.”Trump commuted Stone’s sentence on Friday night, sparking outrage from Democrats and some senior Republicans.Stone was a former campaign adviser to the president, convicted in November 2019 of seven crimes including obstruction of justice, lying to Congress and witness tampering.He was sentenced in February to 40 months in prison and was due to surrender on Tuesday, until the president commuted his sentence.Speaking on Sunday to CNN’s State of the Union, the House speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats in the House will pursue legislation to restrict clemency powers related to the president’s own conduct. “It’s a threat to our national security,” she said.The 2017-19 Mueller investigation uncovered evidence of communications between Stone and WikiLeaks related to the release of hacked Democratic party emails during the 2016 election, discovered in a separate inquiry into Russian intelligence officers charged with hacking the emails and staging their release.The partially released Mueller report in April 2019 described Russian efforts to tamper with the election and the Trump campaign’s receptivity to certain “Russian offers of assistance to the campaign”.It outlined actions by Trump that may have amounted to obstruction of justice and concluded: “While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”Mueller also concluded he did not have the power to charge Trump even if he thought it was warranted.Mueller wrote: “The special counsel’s office identified two principal operations directed at our election: hacking and dumping Clinton campaign emails, and an online social media campaign to disparage the Democratic candidate.“We also identified numerous links between the Russian government and Trump campaign personnel – Stone among them. We did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired with the Russian government …“The investigation did, however, establish that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome. [And] that the campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts.”> Russia’s actions were a threat to America’s democracy> > Robert MuellerTrump has repeatedly attempted to discredit Mueller and his investigations.Mueller has kept his counsel since he testified in Congress in July last year. It was a muted affair, and many perceived Trump was emboldened in his efforts to seek assistance in his current election campaign from the Ukraine.This led to the historic impeachment of the president, and Trump’s ultimate acquittal by the Senate earlier this year.On Saturday Mueller wrote: “Russia’s actions were a threat to America’s democracy. It was critical that they be investigated and understood.” ‘Historic corruption’ – RomneyRepublicans largely stayed silent on the issue on Saturday, however Utah Senator Mitt Romney, who was also the lone GOP senator to vote to convict the president during his impeachment trial earlier this year, attacked Trump’s move.“Unprecedented, historic corruption: an American president commutes the sentence of a person convicted by a jury of lying to shield that very president,” Romney tweeted.Senator Pat Toomey, of Pennsylvania, a Republican, also called the move to commute the sentence a mistake.Toomey pointed to the backing that the US attorney general, William Barr, had given to the Stone prosecution. Barr, who has faced allegations of using the justice department to defend the president and his associates, had said earlier this month that he regarded the prosecution of Stone as “righteous”.But most Republicans who did speak out about the decision supported it. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump confidant, said Stone was convicted of a nonviolent, first-time offense and the president was justified in commuting the sentence.Graham, chair of the Senate judiciary committee, tweeted on Sunday that he would now grant Democrats’ request to call Mueller to give evidence to the committee, as he was willing to defend the Russia investigation in a newspaper.Graham is leading an investigation by Republicans on the judiciary committee into the origins of Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election and links to the Trump campaign, and alleged misconduct by US intelligence officials.Democrats say the investigation is a move to appease President Trump ahead of November’s election.• Associated Press contributed to this report. Additional reporting by Mark Oliver.

Sens. Mitt Romney and Pat Toomey condemned President Donald Trump’s decision to commute the prison sentence of his longtime confidant Roger Stone — the first elected Republicans to denounce the president’s Friday night move.

“Unprecedented, historic corruption: an American president commutes the sentence of a person convicted by a jury of lying to shield that very president,” Romney (R-Utah) wrote on Twitter Saturday.

GOP lawmakers have been mostly silent about the commutation, which came just after a federal appeals court panel rejected Stone’s last-ditch bid to delay the start of his 40-month prison sentence set to begin next week. Stone was convicted on seven felony charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller, including obstruction, witness tampering, and making false statements.

In a statement, Toomey (R-Pa.) noted that the president “clearly has the legal and constitutional authority to grant clemency for federal crimes,” but said commuting Stone’s sentence was a “mistake” due in part to the severity of the charges against him.

“While I understand the frustration with the badly flawed Russia-collusion investigation, in my view, commuting Roger Stone’s sentence is a mistake,” Toomey said. “He was duly convicted of lying to Congress, witness tampering, and obstruction a congressional investigation conducted by a Republican-led committee.”

Toomey also noted that Attorney General William Barr earlier this week called the prosecution of Stone “righteous” and said his prison sentence of three years and four months was “fair.”

Romney was the lone Republican to vote to convict Trump in his impeachment trial in the Senate, and has openly criticized Trump in ways that his fellow Republicans have avoided. Toomey has occasionally broken with the president, in particular over trade policies.

Barr previously intervened in the Stone case to urge a more lenient sentence for Stone after prosecutors initially asked for seven to nine years behind bars. At the time, Barr expressed rare frustration with Trump, saying that the president’s public comments on Justice Department cases, including Stone’s, was making his job more difficult.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was supportive of the sentence commutation in part because “this was a non-violent, first-time offense” for Stone.

Similarly, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, in announcing the commutation on Friday, said Stone was “a victim of the Russia Hoax that the Left and its allies in the media perpetuated for years.” McEnany also dismissed the charges against Stone as “process-based” and said they “were the product of recklessness borne of frustration and malice.”

Shortly after Romney and Toomey commented, Mueller himself spoke out in rare form, writing a Washington Post op-ed in which he defended his investigation from Trump’s frequent attacks and said Stone “remains a convicted felon, and rightly so,” despite Trump’s move.

“I feel compelled to respond both to broad claims that our investigation was illegitimate and our motives were improper, and to specific claims that Roger Stone was a victim of our office,” Mueller wrote, calling Stone a “central figure” in the investigation.

“When a subject lies to investigators, it strikes at the core of the government’s efforts to find the truth and hold wrongdoers accountable,” Mueller said of Stone making false statements to Congress. “It may ultimately impede those efforts.”

The White House has tapped Ryan Tully to be the top official on Europe and Russia at the National Security Council, making him the fifth person to occupy that job in the last three and a half years of the Trump administration, three sources familiar with the decision told CNN Friday.