President Donald Trump's former adviser Roger Stone, who was arrested months ago and is facing trial for obstruction, false statements, and witness tampering in the Russia investigation, is arguing in court that he cannot be prosecuted for obstruction because there was no underlying crime for which he is being charged. As proof of this, he cites a memo written by Attorney General William Barr, while he was still in private practice.
But federal prosecutors are pushing back in court, explaining that the portion of Barr's memo Stone cites actually refers to a statute criminalizing the use of physical violence against witnesses, an offense with which Stone has not been charged. "The memorandum does not argue that every obstruction statute should be interpreted to require proof of the crime that gave rise to the investigation that was obstructed," says a document filed by prosecutors.
Barr has come under fire for his expansive views of executive power, and for his mischaracterization of the Mueller report's conclusions on whether Trump committed obstruction.
The prosecution of Stone stems from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into whether he helped the Trump campaign coordinate with WikiLeaks on the release of emails stolen from Democratic Party officials.
Read the passage below:
