WASHINGTON (AP) — Three of the lawyers who prosecuted Roger Stone quit the case Tuesday after the Justice Department said it would take the extraordinary step of lowering the amount of prison time it would seek for President Donald Trump's longtime ally and confident. The decision by the Justice Department came just hours after Trump complained that the recommended sentence for Stone was “very horrible and unfair." The DOJ said the sentencing recommendation was made Monday night — before Trump's tweet — and prosecutors had not spoken to the White House about it. But the decision raised questions about political interference and whether Trump's views hold unusual sway over the Justice Department, which is meant to operate independently of the White House in criminal investigations and prosecutions. Attorney General William Barr has been a steady ally of Trump's, clearing the president of obstruction of justice even when special counsel Robert Mueller had pointedly declined to do so and declaring that the FBI's Russia investigation — which resulted in charges against Stone — had been based on a “bogus narrative." On Monday night, prosecutors had recommended Stone serve seven to nine years behind bars after being convicted of charges including lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstructing the House investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to tip the 2016 election.