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Attorney General William Barr’s handpicked top prosecutor presiding over the Roger Stone case reportedly caved to prosecutors seeking a steep prison sentence for the longtime friend of President Trump.

Timothy Shea, the recently installed interim U.S. attorney in D.C., informed Justice Department leadership that he believed the initial seven-to-nine-year sentencing recommendation for Stone was too excessive, DOJ sources told the Wall Street Journal‘s Kimberley Strassel.

But the four line prosecutors, including three who served on special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, threatened to withdraw from the case if their penalty request was diminished, and with Monday’s court deadline approaching, Shea relented.

“Mr. Shea — new to the job — suffered a moment of cowardice and submitted to this ultimatum,” Strassel wrote.

Once DOJ leadership learned of the tall sentencing recommendation for Stone, who was convicted of witness tampering and lying to Congress, they moved to overrule the prosecutors, suggesting instead up to four years of prison time. In short order, the four federal prosecutors withdrew from the case, and one quit his job entirely.

A Justice Department representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this report.

As Trump tweeted about the original guidance early Tuesday, calling it a “miscarriage of justice” before the reversal, Democrats have accused him and Attorney General William Barr of interfering in the case, demanding investigations. Prosecutors from around the country told the media that the Stone situation has increased their anxiety about working on any cases that might attract interest from Trump for fear that Barr would not back them up.

Barr said he was “very surprised” by the tougher suggested penalty but claimed the decision to scale it back was made before Trump slammed the guidance. He also told ABC News on Thursday that Trump’s constant public commentary on the Justice Department makes “it impossible for me to do my job” and claimed that his work would remain independent from the president’s political desires.

The White House said Trump “wasn’t bothered” by Barr condemning his tweets, but the president tweeted about Barr the very next day.

“‘The President has never asked me to do anything in a criminal case,'” Trump said Friday on Twitter, quoting Barr. “This doesn’t mean that I do not have, as President, the legal right to do so, I do, but I have so far chosen not to!”