The Roger Stone sentencing uproar is deeply important, and not because it's another Trump "Scandal." Rather, it's a clash that was always coming-the moment at which an ungoverned bureaucracy smacked up against Attorney General William Barr's promise to restore equal justice and accountability at the Justice Department.
Democrats claimed Mr. Trump politically interfered with justice, bullying the department into going easy on a political crony.
The filing took Justice Department leaders by surprise, and the decision to reverse was made well before Mr. Trump tweeted, and with no communication with the White House.
Remember how Mr. Stone ended up in the Justice Department's crosshairs.
In a Washington Post op-ed, former Justice Department employee Chuck Rosenberg summed up the resistance to supervision: "We all understand that the leadership at the top of the department is politically appointed, and we make peace with that."
His every comment on Mr. Stone puts Mr. Barr in a more difficult position-and for what? Mr. Barr on Thursday publicly asked the president to lay off, and he should.
The real story this week is that in the end the Justice Department requested a reasonable sentence for Mr. Stone, and Mr. Barr schooled overzealous prosecutors in the importance of evenhandedness, integrity and respecting the chain of command.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-trials-of-bill-barr-11581637977?mod=hp_opin_pos_3
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