Page 7 - CLT022420

NEWS FEBRUARY 24, 2020 ¦ 7

Droney Sounds Off on Trump
And 40-Plus Years in CT Law

By Robert Storace

Day Pitney partner and former U.S. Attorney
for Connecticut Christopher Droney is add-
ing his voice to the outcry over President
Donald Trump’s perceived interference in the crimi-
nal trial of political consultant Roger Stone.
Droney, a former judge, also weighed in on the
president’s criticism of judges, and on industry calls
for the U.S. attorney general’s resignation.
Connecticut’s U.S. attorney from 1993-1997,
Droney said a letter from more than 200 former
Department of Justice staffers calling for the resig-
nation of U.S. Attorney General William Barr was
unjustified, without first looking at why the Justice
Department intervened in the Stone trial.
The case has been especially polarizing, and
elicited tweets from the president, who criticized
prosecutors’ recommendation of the maximum
nine-year sentence for Stone. After Trump’s tweets,
the Justice Department changed direction, and ar- Former judge, U.S. attorney and Day Pitney partner
gued that a nine-year sentence would have been too Christopher Droney. Courtesy photo

strict. That led the original four prosecutors on the Connecticut Law Tribune: As a former U.S. at-
Stone case to quit. torney for Connecticut, a part of the Department of
Stone stood trial for witness tampering, obstruc- Justice, what is your view on the recent letter signed
tion and lying to Congress during special counsel on behalf of hundreds of former DOJ employees
Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian calling for the resignation of U.S. Attorney General
interference in the 2016 elections. He was sentenced William Barr?
Thursday to 40 months in prison. Christopher Droney: The public statement by
Now, leaders in the legal community are weighing in. the president about the potential sentence for Roger
Droney is a former West Hartford mayor, an ex- Stone was unprecedented, and of great concern to
judge and a onetime U.S. attorney who returned me and so many other former Justice Department
to his roots Jan. 2—rejoining Day Pitney as a part- officials.
ner after a roughly four-decade career. As a district I thought the attorney general appropriately criti-
judge, he authored about 700 opinions, and wrote cized the president for his involvement. That was the
about 100 more as a jurist for the U.S. Court of Ap- most important, and troubling, aspect of this epi-
peals for the Second Circuit. sode. Whether Main Justice was right to weigh in on
Droney sat down with the Connecticut Law Tribune the requested sentencing guidelines range was also
to discuss some of the cases he oversaw as a judge, as very unusual, and it never happened in Connecticut
well as the U.S. president’s tweets and behavior. His an- when I was U.S. attorney.
swers have been edited for news style and clarity.
¦ Continued on PAGE 8

CONNECTICUT
Law Tribune