A Justice Department prosecutor resigned on Tuesday as the department planned to reverse itself and recommend less prison time for Roger Stone. The move to withdraw the original recommendation and propose a more lenient one came hours after President Trump criticized the original recommendation that his longtime confidant spend more than seven years behind bars. After the reversal became public, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Kravis, one government attorneys who prosecuted Mr. Stone, withdrew from the case and resigned from the Justice Department, according to court filing. Two other prosecutors, Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aaron Zelinksy and Adam Jed, also said in a court filing that he was withdrawing case.

Mr. Stone was found guilty last year of misleading Congress about his efforts to make contact with the website WikiLeaks during the 2016 presidential campaign, and of threatening a witness who would contradict his testimony. While first-time offenders like Mr. Stone generally receive sentences of a few months for crimes that include lying to Congress, the witness-tampering count ratchets up Mr. Stone’s potential punishment. It carries a 20-year maximum prison term.

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