THE TIGHTENING NOOSE:

Before announcing her sentence, Jackson rebuked Stone's conduct, saying he was "proud to act with impunity outside the law." She defended the integrity of the investigation.

"There was nothing unfair about the investigation and the prosecution," Jackson said, adding that Stone was not prosecuted because of his politics. "He was prosecuted for covering up for the president."

In a thinly veiled reference to Trump, Jackson said Stone's sentence should not be decided or influenced by someone who's a friend of the defendant and whose "political career was aided by the defendant."

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