President Trump commuting the sentence of Roger Stone had CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin attempting to turn it into an historic event:
CNN's Jeffrey Toobin Rips Roger Stone Commutation as 'The Most Corrupt and Cronyistic Act in Perhaps All of Recent History' https://t.co/nVi2ldtNEx
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) July 11, 2020
Republican Sen. Mitt Romney referred to the commutation with similar language:
Unprecedented, historic corruption: an American president commutes the sentence of a person convicted by a jury of lying to shield that very president.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) July 11, 2020
George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley doesn’t exactly see the commutation as unprecedented:
Despite my disagreement with the commutation, such a statement is almost charmingly quaint. The sordid history of White House pardons makes this commutation look positively chaste in comparison. https://t.co/vtoQMN8BVf
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) July 11, 2020
…Trump should have left the decision to a successor (as Reagan did) or, at a minimum, to Barr. Nevertheless, compared to other presidents, his commutation of Stone is not even a distant contender for “the most corrupt and cronyistic act” of presidential clemency.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) July 11, 2020
Turley also had a dose of self-awareness for Romney:
Mitt Romney seemed to echo Toobin's view in declaring this an "unprecedented, historic corruption." Again, I believe that decision was wrong on the merits and on the process. However, Romney and Toobin are wrong on the rather sordid history of presidential clemency decisions.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) July 11, 2020
Romney stated that it is "unprecedented" that "an American president commutes the sentence of a person convicted by a jury of lying to shield that very president." However, Romney has long heralded his respect and support of President George H.W. Bush …https://t.co/vtoQMN8BVf
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) July 11, 2020
…despite Bush's executive clemency actions for six former senior government officials implicated in the Iran-Contra scandal, including former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. Bush himself was implicated in that scandal and some alleged was protected by their silence.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) July 11, 2020
Maybe some just chose not to see it at the time.