Just when Roger Stone wiped his brow, thinking that he’s now surely in the clear …

Stone wasn’t pardoned. He had his sentence commuted, which means he still stands guilty of an assortment of federal crimes, perjury, witness tampering, etcetera. Trump obviously commuted Stone’s sentence to save his own ass because Stone had made it very clear that there was “serious pressure” on Stone to turn on Trump. It is stunning that Trump has gotten away with this and one can look directly at the GOP Senate and say, “this is on you, that this travesty of justice occurred.” (With the exception of Mitt Romney who forcefully condemned it and found Trump guilty at the impeachment trial.)

But the interplay between federal crimes and state crimes is complex. There are times when the constitutional right to be free of double jeopardy comes into play blocking either the state or the federal prosecutors. But not always.

Enter New York. CNN has an op-ed arguing that Stone should be prosecuted by the state for witness tampering (which happened in New York) and seditious behavior. The analysis gets pretty deep in the weeds with legalese, using terms of art like “occupying the field” describing federal jurisdiction, and perhaps we’ll dedicate a column to explain the concept later as necessary. For now, the conclusion is all one needs:

Moreover, Stone’s case presents narrow circumstances unique in our history. US presidents have broad powers to pardon and commute sentences. However, here we have federal law enforcement neutralized by a president’s commutation rewarding the cover-up to protect Trump. A state prosecution would put on trial a man we know is guilty.

Far outweighing any legal risk of bringing Stone to justice in New York is the national benefit: Standing up for the rule of law, showing that it survives in the offices of state prosecutors, if not in the White House.