{"id":2309354,"date":"2024-07-26T10:41:01","date_gmt":"2024-07-26T14:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2309354"},"modified":"2024-07-26T10:51:40","modified_gmt":"2024-07-26T14:51:40","slug":"jack-smiths-deputy-excoriated-for-inappropriate-behavior-at-doj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jack-smiths-deputy-excoriated-for-inappropriate-behavior-at-doj\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack Smith&#8217;s Deputy Excoriated For Inappropriate Behavior At DOJ"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjack-smiths-deputy-excoriated-for-inappropriate-behavior-at-doj%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2309354&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Dia and political activists have long celebrated the \u2064aggressive tactics \u2062employed by Cooney and\u200b his colleagues\u2063 in pursuing former President Trump and his allies. Yet, the fallout from their actions has sparked significant criticism \u2063and skepticism regarding the integrity of the investigations and the Justice Department&#8217;s commitment to neutrality.<\/p>\n<p>The inspector general&#8217;s report reveals deep-seated issues within Cooney&#8217;s approach, underscoring the \u200brole of speculation and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/media-outraged-that-alex-jones-is-also-allowed-to-spread-absurd-conspiracy-theories-on-x\/\" title=\"Media outraged over Alex Jones spreading absurd conspiracy theories on X\">unfounded \u200cconspiracy theories<\/a> that fueled mistrust among his team and affected critical prosecutorial decisions. Critics argue that such behavior not only undermines the credibility of the Department\u200b of Justice but also \u2064raises concerns about the selective \u2063enforcement\u200b of the law based on political affiliations.<\/p>\n<p>As\u2064 the landscape of political and judicial accountability continues to evolve, the implications of\u2063 Cooney&#8217;s\u2062 conduct\u2014coupled with the broader strategies \u2062of \u2064the Special Counsel&#8217;s office\u2014remain a significant point of contention\u200d among lawmakers, legal experts, and the public alike. Many observers \u2063are\u200b left wondering how such actions will shape the future of political prosecutions\u200c and the perceived impartiality of \u2062federal law enforcement. The\u2062 quest \u2063for justice must grapple with the dual challenge \u2064of \u2064ensuring accountability while upholding the fundamental principles of fairness and nonpartisanship that are essential to a just legal system.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Former Attorney General Bill Barr did not improperly pressure prosecutors to reduce sentencing recommendations for political activist Roger Stone, according to a new government watchdog report. The exoneration of Barr came more than four years after a deluge of media reports alleging wrongdoing.<\/p>\n<p>However, J.P. Cooney, a Justice Department official now serving as Special Counsel Jack Smith&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/02\/12\/us\/politics\/jack-smith-special-counsel-trump-investigations.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">top deputy<\/a>, cultivated a politically toxic environment, disseminated baseless conspiracy theories about Trump and his political appointees, and engaged in unprofessional conduct as he oversaw the team making sentencing recommendations, according to the same report.<\/p>\n<p>Cooney is mentioned (as the &ldquo;Fraud and Public Corruption Section Chief&rdquo;) a whopping <a href=\"https:\/\/oig.justice.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/reports\/24-081.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">394 times in the 85-page report<\/a> released from the Justice Department&rsquo;s inspector general on July 24. Cooney supervised a team of four attorneys who prosecuted Stone for what the government successfully <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/07\/11\/politics\/robert-mueller-defends-roger-stone-prosecution\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">argued<\/a> in front of a Washington, D.C., jury were lies and obstruction during Special Counsel Robert Mueller&rsquo;s investigation into Trump campaign officials. Mueller&rsquo;s two-year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2019\/08\/02\/politics\/mueller-report-cost\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$32 million<\/a> investigation was itself spun up by anti-Trump officials in the Justice Department after the Democrat National Committee and Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/03\/30\/election-watchdog-fines-clinton-campaign-for-lying-about-steele-dossier-in-finance-filings\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bought and paid<\/a> for an information operation falsely alleging the Trump campaign was in cahoots with Russia to steal the 2016 election. Two members of Cooney&rsquo;s team also worked on the Mueller investigation.<\/p>\n<p>The Fraud and Public Corruption (FPC) team sought an unprecedented sentence of seven to nine years in prison for Stone, dramatically beyond what others convicted of similar crimes faced. When developing that sentencing goal, the team by its own admission thought the &ldquo;closest analogue&rdquo; to the Stone conviction was that of Scooter Libby, a target of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/9-big-things-we-learned-from-the-michael-sussmann-prosecution\/\" title=\"9 Big Things We Learned From The Michael Sussmann Prosecution\">previous special counsel<\/a> in a highly controversial prosecution. Libby&rsquo;s proposed sentencing range was 30-37 months and he was sentenced to 30 months, which was derided as &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2007\/07\/03\/washington\/03libby.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">excessive<\/a>&rdquo; by former President George W. Bush.<\/p>\n<p>Yet the Cooney team larded up the Stone sentencing memo with every escalatory adjustment it could find, however disputable, to achieve a much harsher sentence and treat Stone differently than the Justice Department treats other defendants.<\/p>\n<p>As soon as Cooney&rsquo;s supervisors saw what he and his team had planned, &ldquo;they all agreed that the sentencing recommendation was too high&rdquo; and expressed grave concern about the situation. Interim U.S. Attorney Timothy Shea, who had started on the job just that week, said he &ldquo;had never seen [perjury] cases produce a sentence that high, and that he was aware of many violent crimes that did not result in sentences &lsquo;anywhere near&rsquo; the sentence the team was recommending for Stone,&rdquo; according to the report. He noted that the escalatory adjustments were arguably made in error, in at least one case, and that the guidance was completely &ldquo;out of whack&rdquo; relative to other cases. Further, Stone was a &ldquo;first-time offender, older than most offenders, and convicted of a nonviolent crime,&rdquo; and &ldquo;comparable cases&rdquo; were sentenced around two to three years.<\/p>\n<p>Cooney responded to the criticism of his extreme sentencing proposal by spreading an elaborate conspiracy theory with no supporting evidence that Trump, Barr, and Shea were being improperly political. Cooney admitted to investigators that &ldquo;he had no information suggesting that anyone from Main Justice (i.e., DOJ leadership offices) was involved in the Stone sentencing at this time and no evidence pointing to improper motivations influencing these discussions&rdquo; when he spread the conspiracy theory with his underlings.<\/p>\n<p>In phone calls and other conversations with his prosecution team, Cooney spread his evidence-free conspiracy theory that &ldquo;Shea was acting out of fear of then President Trump and, more particularly, fear of the consequences of not seeking a lower sentence for an influential friend of then President Trump.&rdquo; He continued his conspiracy theories in other conversations. &ldquo;Prosecutor 1 said that when he asked [Cooney] what was going on, [Cooney] replied that &lsquo;this is coming from Main Justice. Tim Shea is getting pressure from Main Justice about the Stone sentencing recommendation, and Tim Shea is terrified of the President,&rsquo;&rdquo; according to the report. Cooney acknowledged he had no evidence to support these statements.<\/p>\n<p>Another prosecutor said Cooney told him that &ldquo;Shea did not care about Stone or the Stone case, but that Shea was &lsquo;afraid of the President&rsquo; and that this fear was driving Shea&rsquo;s actions,&rdquo; according to the report. That same prosecutor said Cooney said multiple times that &ldquo;Shea was afraid of the President and said it &lsquo;with substantial conviction.&rsquo;&rdquo; Cooney later acknowledged he had no evidence to support his false claim.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, reporters began calling the Department of Justice to ask about the sentencing guideline dispute. That meant that at least one person within the department was getting information to reporters at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/warning-for-america-the-four-steps-of-marxist-takeover-were-activated-in-2020\/\" title=\"Warning for America: The Four Steps of Marxist Takeover Were Activated in 2020\">left-wing media outlets<\/a> to bully Trump appointees to acquiesce to their demands. Partisan bureaucrats had commonly used that tactic throughout the Trump presidency. While strict guidelines opposed unauthorized disclosures to the press, DOJ and FBI officials rarely bothered to investigate such leaks, much less <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-lawmakers-to-investigate-appalling-fbi-whistleblower-complaints\/\" title=\"GOP Lawmakers to Investigate \u2018Appalling\u2019 FBI Whistleblower Complaints\">hold employees accountable<\/a> for them. In many cases, they were the worst offenders. For example, former FBI Director James Comey <a href=\"https:\/\/oig.justice.gov\/reports\/2019\/o1902.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">leaked<\/a> to the media by disclosing information to an attorney who then passed the information on to The New York Times. The investigative report on the sentencing memos discusses how various DOJ employees denied leaking to the media while also noting they spoke about the sentencing controversy with other attorneys.<\/p>\n<p>Unsurprisingly, the sentencing dispute became a major news story, with the perspective of Cooney&rsquo;s team adopted by the recipients of the leaks. After the Justice Department issued a second sentencing guideline memo, the four prosecutors all removed themselves from the case and were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/02\/11\/us\/politics\/roger-stone-federal-prosecutors.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lavished with praise by left-wing media outlets<\/a>. Prosecutor Aaron Zelinsky went on to <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.house.gov\/meetings\/JU\/JU00\/20200624\/110836\/HHRG-116-JU00-Wstate-ZelinskyA-20200624-U7.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">testify in front of Congress<\/a> about the situation. His claims that the sentencing dispute was guided by politics were untrue, but investigators blamed Cooney for spreading the falsehoods.<\/p>\n<p>The second sentencing memo did not call for a specific jail time but left it to the judge&rsquo;s discretion. Judge Amy Berman Jackson agreed with the second sentencing memo and ordered Stone to serve 40 months in prison, many years fewer than Cooney&rsquo;s team had aimed for. Trump commuted Stone&rsquo;s sentence before he was taken into custody.<\/p>\n<p>In its report, the Justice Department IG said that Cooney&rsquo;s &ldquo;speculative comments in meetings with the trial team about the political motivations&rdquo; of Trump officials &ldquo;in connection with their handling of the Stone sentencing contributed to an atmosphere of mistrust&rdquo; that &ldquo;unnecessarily further complicated an important decision in the case.&rdquo; It further determined that his baseless comments to the trial team formed a substantial basis for Zelinsky&rsquo;s explosive but wrong testimony to the House Judiciary Committee on June 24, 2020.<\/p>\n<h2>Cooney&rsquo;s Checkered DOJ Record<\/h2>\n<p>Cooney&rsquo;s track record at DOJ includes many other controversial political actions.<\/p>\n<p>For example, one of the primary instigators of the Russia-collusion hoax was FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, now a CNN contributor. In April 2018, federal investigators issued a criminal referral for just some of the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2018\/04\/19\/justice-department-ig-submits-criminal-referral-of-andrew-mccabe-to-us-attorney\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">criminal leaks and lies<\/a> he had engaged in while at the FBI. After sitting on a criminal referral for nearly two years, Cooney announced on Feb. 14, days after the Stone sentencing memo situation, that he had decided to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/kyledcheney\/status\/1228366787256954881\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">let McCabe get away with<\/a> the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2020\/02\/19\/senate-homeland-security-chair-demands-doj-explain-why-it-let-mccabe-off\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lies and the leaks<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Those who aren&rsquo;t political allies of Cooney&rsquo;s receive different treatment. Cooney <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/10\/21\/us\/politics\/steve-bannon-sentence-contempt-congress.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">prosecuted<\/a> Steve Bannon in 2022 for a contempt of Congress charge related to him not complying with a subpoena from the controversial Jan. 6 Committee comprised exclusively of members <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/01\/05\/pelosi-owns-the-j6-commission-and-thats-why-it-failed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hand-selected<\/a> by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Bannon, who hosts the popular alternate media program &ldquo;War Room,&rdquo; is currently serving his four-month prison sentence. Civil libertarians are concerned about the Biden administration&rsquo;s imprisonment of powerful media voices during the election season.<\/p>\n<p>Incidentally, Attorney General Merrick Garland was <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/06\/12\/house-gop-votes-to-hold-merrick-garland-in-contempt-of-congress\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">found in contempt<\/a> of Congress earlier this year for failing to comply with a subpoena from the House Judiciary Committee, which unlike the Jan. 6 Committee is a real committee with members appointed by both Republicans and Democrats, but the Department of Justice has not charged him.<\/p>\n<h2>Thwarting Election Integrity<\/h2>\n<p>After the extremely controversial 2020 election, Attorney General Barr issued a memorandum allowing the Department of Justice to <a href=\"https:\/\/int.nyt.com\/data\/documenttools\/barr-memo-elections-fraud\/9bf5cac375012c4c\/full.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">investigate election irregularities<\/a> if they were serious and substantiated. &ldquo;While it is imperative that credible allegations be addressed in a timely and effective manner, it is equally imperative that Department personnel exercise appropriate caution and maintain the Department&rsquo;s absolute commitment to fairness, neutrality and non-partisanship,&rdquo; Barr wrote.<\/p>\n<p>While many Americans would hope the Justice Department would investigate election irregularities in a timely fashion, particularly in an election as unprecedented as 2020, Democrat activists were livid. In response, Cooney cooked up a letter of outrage that quickly leaked to the media and helped shut down any meaningful investigations into the election. When <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/11\/13\/us\/politics\/justice-department-voter-fraud.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The New York Times<\/a> wrote about the letter, it was clear that Trump officials had already figured out Cooney&rsquo;s mode of operating.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;On Thursday, [Cooney] said in an email sent to Mr. Barr via Richard P. Donoghue, an official in the deputy attorney general&rsquo;s office, that the memo should be rescinded because it went against longstanding practices, according to two people with knowledge of the email,&rdquo; The New York Times wrote. &ldquo;In response, Mr. Donoghue told Mr. Cooney that he would pass on his complaint but that if it leaked to reporters, he would note that as well. Given that the email was born out of a concern for integrity, Mr. Donoghue said in his reply that he would assure officials &lsquo;that I have a high degree of confidence that it will not be improperly leaked to the media.&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Somehow the letter simultaneously made it to Cooney&rsquo;s political allies at left-wing media outlets.<\/p>\n<h2>Rabid Pursuit of Trump<\/h2>\n<p>Weeks after President Joe Biden was inaugurated, Cooney was still stinging over not being able to put Stone in prison for nearly 10 years. He cooked up a plan, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/investigations\/2023\/06\/19\/fbi-resisted-opening-probe-into-trumps-role-jan-6-more-than-year\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">appeared in The Washington Post<\/a> and New York Times, to once again go after Roger Stone and other Trump associates in a new Jan. 6-related investigation.<\/p>\n<p>His supervisors noted, &ldquo;Cooney did not provide evidence that Stone had likely committed a crime &mdash; the standard they considered appropriate for looking at a political figure.&rdquo; Further, his investigative plans were &ldquo;treading on First Amendment-protected activities.&rdquo; Nevertheless, he continued pursuing various plans to target Trump affiliates, and the U.S. attorney&rsquo;s office began pursuing investigations along the lines of what Cooney had proposed, according to reporting.<\/p>\n<p>President Biden and corporate media continued to pressure the Department of Justice and Garland to go after former President Donald Trump, who was widely expected to become Biden&rsquo;s 2024 opponent. The famously conflict-averse Garland finally relented and put together a special counsel team heavily focused on Cooney and his extreme theories.<\/p>\n<p>Democrat activists have cheered the special counsel for its aggressive actions against Trump, including a shocking raid on his Mar-a-Lago home, exhaustive investigations into communications and finances of Trump and many of his associates, and relentless pushes for courts to rush judgments ahead of the November elections. <\/p>\n<p>Cooney and Smith&rsquo;s approach has been less successful outside Democrat conversations. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s almost hard to believe how comprehensively the hubris and zealotry of anti-Donald Trump lawfare have blown up in their practitioners&rsquo; faces,&rdquo; wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2024\/07\/03\/garland-trump-roberts-presidential-immunity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Washington Post&rsquo;s Jason Willick<\/a> after one major defeat. &ldquo;Not only did the Supreme Court&rsquo;s Monday ruling in <em>Trump v. United States<\/em> create new and enduring presidential immunities against criminal prosecution, but it also eviscerated the fiction of an &lsquo;independent&rsquo; Justice Department and even inadvertently threw the validity of Trump&rsquo;s New York hush money conviction into question.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Left-wing media outlets such as <a href=\"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/news\/j-p-cooney-jack-smith-trump-jan-6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Talking Points Memo<\/a> have praised Cooney, noting that he was a partisan activist in college. Cooney, who was president of the College Democrats at Notre Dame University, wrote a column in the school newspaper that regularly <a href=\"https:\/\/archives.nd.edu\/Observer\/1998-02-18_v31_094.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">praised<\/a> President Bill Clinton and criticized Independent Counsel Ken Starr and his investigation of Clinton. Cooney once wrote of Starr as a &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/archives.nd.edu\/Observer\/1998-09-09_v32_011.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">partisan political hit-man<\/a>&rdquo; for investigating Clinton and complained about the <a href=\"https:\/\/archives.nd.edu\/Observer\/1998-02-04_v31_084.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$30 million price tag<\/a> of the investigation. He lamented the country&rsquo;s &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/archives.nd.edu\/Observer\/1998-02-04_v31_084.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">insatiable craving for controversy and scandal<\/a>&rdquo; regarding Clinton and worried it would destroy the country.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div>\n<p>      Mollie Ziegler Hemingway is the Editor-in-Chief of The Federalist. She is Senior Journalism Fellow at Hillsdale College and a Fox News contributor. She is the co-author of <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Justice-Trial-Kavanaugh-Confirmation-Supreme\/dp\/1621579832\">Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court<\/a><\/em>. She is the author of &#8220;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Rigged-Media-Democrats-Seized-Elections\/dp\/168451259X\/\">Rigged: How the Media, Big Tech, and the Democrats Seized Our Elections.<\/a><\/em>&#8221; Reach her at <b><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/mailto:mzhemingway@thefederalist.com\">mzhemingway@thefederalist.com<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A recent report from a government watchdog has cleared former Attorney General Bill Barr of any wrongdoing in allegedly pressuring prosecutors to lessen sentencing recommendations for political activist Roger Stone. This finding comes over four years after numerous media allegations suggested misconduct. In contrast, the report criticizes J.P. Cooney, a Justice Department official currently working as a top deputy to Special Counsel Jack Smith, for fostering a politically charged atmosphere, promoting unfounded conspiracy theories about Trump and his appointees, and displaying unprofessional behavior while overseeing the team responsible for Stone&#8217;s sentencing recommendations.<\/p>\n<p>Cooney is referenced 394 times in the 85-page report released by the Justice Department&#8217;s inspector general on July 24. He led a team of four attorneys who prosecuted Stone for lying and obstructing justice during Special Counsel Robert Mueller&#8217;s investigation into the Trump campaign. This investigation was initiated by anti-Trump officials in the Justice Department following a discredited information operation funded by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton, which falsely claimed collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the 2016 election. Notably, two members of Cooney&#8217;s team had also worked on the Mueller investigation.<\/p>\n<p>The Fraud and Public Corruption (FPC) team sought an unprecedented prison sentence of seven to nine years for Stone, significantly harsher than what others convicted of similar offenses typically received. The team admitted that they considered Scooter Libby&#8217;s case, which resulted in a proposed sentence of 30-37 months, as the closest comparison to Stone&#8217;s conviction. However, Cooney&#8217;s team inflated the sentencing memo with questionable adjustments to justify a more severe punishment for Stone, treating him differently from other defendants.<\/p>\n<p>When Cooney&#8217;s supervisors reviewed the proposed sentence, they unanimously agreed it was excessively high and expressed serious concerns. Interim U.S. Attorney Timothy Shea, who had just started his position, noted that he had never seen such a high sentence for perjury cases and was aware of many violent crimes that resulted in much lighter sentences. He pointed out that the adjustments made by Cooney&#8217;s team were likely erroneous and that the proposed sentence was &#8220;out of whack&#8221; compared to similar cases. Additionally, Stone was a first-time, older, nonviolent offender, and comparable cases typically received sentences of two to three years.<\/p>\n<p>In response to the criticism of his extreme sentencing proposal, Cooney propagated a conspiracy theory without evidence, claiming that Trump, Barr, and Shea were engaging in improper political behavior. He admitted to investigators that he had no information indicating that anyone from the Justice Department&#8217;s leadership was involved in the Stone sentencing discussions or that there were any improper motivations influencing them. Despite this, he continued to assert that Shea was acting out of fear of Trump and that this fear influenced Shea&#8217;s actions regarding the sentencing recommendation.<\/p>\n<p>As the sentencing guideline dispute gained media attention, it became clear that someone within the Justice Department was leaking information to left-leaning media outlets to pressure Trump appointees. This tactic was commonly employed by partisan bureaucrats during Trump&#8217;s presidency. Although the DOJ had strict guidelines against unauthorized disclosures, officials rarely investigated such leaks or held employees accountable, with some being the primary offenders.<\/p>\n<p>The sentencing dispute quickly became a major news story, with Cooney&#8217;s team&#8217;s perspective being echoed by the media. Following the issuance of a second sentencing guideline memo, the four prosecutors withdrew from the case and received praise from left-wing media. Prosecutor Aaron Zelinsky testified before Congress about the situation, claiming that political motivations guided the sentencing dispute, a statement investigators later attributed to Cooney&#8217;s unfounded assertions.<\/p>\n<p>The second memo did not specify a prison term but left the decision to the judge. Judge Amy Berman Jackson ultimately sentenced Stone to 40 months in prison, significantly less than what Cooney&#8217;s team had sought. Trump later commuted Stone&#8217;s sentence before he began serving time.<\/p>\n<p>The Justice Department&#8217;s inspector general noted that Cooney&#8217;s speculative comments about the political motivations of Trump officials contributed to a climate of mistrust that complicated the case. The report also indicated that Cooney&#8217;s unfounded claims were a significant basis for Zelinsky&#8217;s misleading testimony to the House Judiciary Committee.<\/p>\n<p>Cooney&#8217;s history at the DOJ includes other controversial actions. For instance, he chose not to pursue charges against FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who had been referred for criminal investigation due to leaks and lies during his tenure at the FBI. In contrast, Cooney prosecuted Steve Bannon in 2022 for contempt of Congress related to a subpoena from the January 6 Committee, which was composed solely of members selected by Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Bannon is currently serving a four-month prison sentence, raising concerns among civil libertarians about the Biden administration&#8217;s treatment of influential media figures during an election season.<\/p>\n<p>After the contentious 2020 election, Barr issued a memo allowing the DOJ to investigate serious and substantiated allegations of election irregularities. While many Americans hoped for timely investigations, Cooney opposed this and leaked a letter of outrage to the media, effectively stifling meaningful inquiries into the election. <\/p>\n<p>Following President Biden&#8217;s inauguration, Cooney sought to renew investigations into Stone and other Trump associates related to January 6, despite lacking evidence of any crimes. His plans were criticized for infringing on First Amendment rights, yet investigations aligned with his proposals were initiated. Under pressure from Biden and the media, Attorney General Merrick Garland eventually formed a special counsel team focused on Cooney&#8217;s theories.<\/p>\n<p>Democratic activists have applauded the special counsel&#8217;s aggressive actions against Trump, including a high-profile raid on his Mar-a-Lago residence and extensive investigations into Trump and his associates. However, the approach taken by Cooney and Special Counsel Smith has faced setbacks outside of Democratic circles, with some commentators noting the backlash against their aggressive tactics.<\/p>\n<p>Cooney&#8217;s past as a partisan activist is also highlighted, including his role as president of the College Democrats at Notre Dame, where he criticized investigations into President Bill Clinton. <\/p>\n<p>Mollie Ziegler Hemingway is the Editor-in-Chief of The Federalist and a Senior Journalism Fellow at Hillsdale College. She is also a Fox News contributor and the author of &#8220;Rigged: How the Media, Big Tech, and the Democrats Seized Our Elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":605,"featured_media":2309363,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Screenshot-2024-07-26-at-7.37.05%E2%80%AFAM.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[4046,36314,32463],"class_list":["post-2309354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-deputy","tag-inappropriate-behavior","tag-jack-smith"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Screenshot-2024-07-26-at-7.37.05%E2%80%AFAM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2309354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/605"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2309354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2309354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2309363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2309354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2309354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2309354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}