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The Department of Justice will force federal prosecutors to cut their recommended prison sentence for Republican political operative Roger Stone — a longtime ally of President Donald Trump — from the term of seven to nine years that they first suggested Monday night.

Justice Department officials objected to very stiff recommended prison term for Stone, which was made by prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C.

A new sentencing recommendation is expected to be filed today in U.S. District Court in Washingon. Stone, 67, is due to be sentenced there Feb. 20 for crimes related to lying to Congress about his contacts with WikiLeaks during the 2016 presidential election and his efforts to get an associate, comedian Randy Credico, to cover for his lies.

Trump early Tuesday morning blasted the original recommended sentence for Stone.

Trump called the original sentencing suggestion “disgraceful,” and also tweeted that “this is a horrible and very unfair situation.”

It is highly unusual for the DOJ to reverse a sentencing recommendation after it has been made by prosecutors in a U.S. Attorney’s office that has prosecuted a defendant.

The Justice Department is headed by Trump’s appointee, William Barr.

Grant Smith, an attorney for Stone, told CNBC, “We’ve read with interest the new reporting on Mr. Stone’s case.”

“Our sentencing memorandum stated our position on the recommendation made yesterday made by the government. We look forward to reviewing the government’s supplemental filing,” Smith said.

Stone’s lawyers, in their own sentencing recommendation filed Monday evening, had asked for Judge Amy Berman Jackson for a sentence of just probation, with no time behind bars.

Defense lawyers also said that the sentencing guidelines actually suggested a term of 15 to 21 months.

The DOJ, the Washington U.S. Attorney’s office, and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment from CNBC.

The sentence of 87 to 108 months first recommended by the prosecutors in the case for Stone mirrored what they said is recommended by federal sentencing guidelines, which are calculated according to a formula that takes into account the severity of the crime, the type of conduct involved and prior criminal history. 

A large fraction of the recommended sentence, as much as 62 months, comes from a so-called enhancement under federal guidelines related to witness tampering. 

Prosecutors acknowledged Monday that Jackson could consider the effect of that enhancement when she crafts Stone’s sentence, as well as “Credico’s own acknowledgement at trial that he and Stone routinely exchanged text messages with hyperbolic language and Credico’s post-trial contention that he did not seriously believe that Stone intended to do him physical harm.”

The Washington Post reported Monday evening that the original sentencing filing by prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s office “came after days of intense debate within” that office.

“Front-line prosecutors,” some of whom were previously on the team of special counsel Robert Mueller, who lodged the charges, “argued for a sentence on the higher end for Stone than some of their supervisors were comfortable with, according to two people familiar with the discussions,” The Post reported.