Trump hails reversal of tough sentencing for former adviser

President Donald Trump praised his attorney general Wednesday for intervening to seek a lighter prison sentence for a former Trump adviser convicted as part of the Russia probe.

The action Tuesday of the Justice Department under Bill Barr in the case of Roger Stone brought new accusations of abuse of power by Trump the week after he was acquitted in his impeachment trial over the Ukraine scandal.

Stone, a veteran Republican activist who advised Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, was convicted in November last year of lying to Congress, tampering with a witness and obstructing the House investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to cheat in that election.

Four government attorneys who prosecuted Stone resigned from the case Tuesday after their original sentence proposal of seven to nine years for Stone was reversed by the Justice Department following a critical late-night tweet from Trump.

On Wednesday, Trump insisted Barr had done the right thing.

"Congratulations to Attorney General Bill Barr for taking charge of a case that was totally out of control and perhaps should not have even been brought," Trump tweeted.