Bill Barr Contradicts Trump, Calls Roger Stone Prosecution ‘Righteous’: ‘I Was Happy He Was Convicted’

Attorney General William Barr declared he was “happy” – in an exclusive interview Thursday with ABC News’ Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas – that President Donald Trump’s longtime ally Roger Stone was convicted.

Barr also said that he thinks the sentence of seven to nine years for Stone was over the top, billing it as “very excessive.”

The segment began with Barr stating he was happy with the conviction of Stone.

“The Stone case was prosecuted while I was attorney general. And I supported it. I think it was established, he was convicted of obstructing Congress and witness tampering. And I thought that was a righteous prosecution. And I was happy that he was convicted,” Barr stated.

The attorney general then riffed on what he deems to be extreme sentencing while adding many in at the DOJ were “concerned” over the sentencing guideline formula.

Barr continued, “The issue then became the sentencing. A new U.S. attorney had just started in Washington D.C., and the week before the filing, he engaged in conversations with senior staff here who raised some questions about the sentencing because he was concerned that the so-called guidelines, the sentencing guideline formula, was indicating a sentence between seven and nine years.”

Barr then blasted the sentence of Stone as “excessive in this case” while adding that the agency he leads, the Department of Justice, “we’re not the decision maker[s].”

“Which, he felt, and all of us immediately felt was very, very high and excessive in this case. And so he wanted to discuss that and over a number of days it became clear that the prosecution team wanted to recommend to the judge, and by the way, sentencing is a function for the judge and not the Department of Justice, we’re not the decision maker. But they wanted to advocate for a sentence that was, at the top, between 7 and 9 years,” Barr continued.

Barr later in the interview, denied that Trump had pressured him to reduce Stone’s prison recommendation while adding that the prosecution was “righteous.”

“I think it was established, he was convicted of obstructing Congress and witness tampering. And I thought that was a righteous prosecution. And I was happy that he was convicted.”

You can read the entire interview via ABC News here.