Right-wing media outlets are rallying to defend convicted Trump confidant Roger Stone after President Donald Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr pushed to have his sentence reduced, triggering widespread concerns about the potential weaponization of the Justice Department.

On February 10, federal prosecutors filed a sentencing recommendation of seven to nine years for Stone, who was charged last year with seven felonies related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian election interference, including lying to Congress, intimidating a witness, and obstructing an official proceeding. The next day, just hours after Trump angrily tweeted that the sentencing recommendation was a “horrible and very unfair situation,” the Justice Department, led by Barr, announced that it would be seeking a lesser sentence for Stone. The Justice Department’s reversal prompted all four federal prosecutors on the case to resign, raising concerns that Trump and Barr are interfering in legal cases of interest to the president despite a White House denial; these concerns were later confirmed by reporting from NBC News.

Trump continued to go on the offensive, smearing the federal prosecutors for supposedly being associated with Mueller, attacking jurors for previous social media posts that were critical of the president, and even going after Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is overseeing Stone’s case. Trump also suddenly yanked the nomination for a Treasury Department position from U.S. attorney Jessie Liu, whose office was overseeing the Stone prosecution.

The actions taken by the Justice Department and the Trump administration over the last few days have rattled the legal community. The New York City Bar Association expressed “deep concerns about the impartial administration of justice in connection with the prosecution of Roger Stone in federal court in Washington, D.C.,” calling for “immediate investigations." Federal prosecutors told The New York Times that they are worried about pursuing criminal cases related to the president or his allies, fearing pressure from the Justice Department and the Trump administration. Since his arrest last January, Stone’s allies in right-wing media, including Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and Fox’s Tucker Carlson, have embarked on a long-term campaign to interfere with the criminal proceedings against Stone, such as calling for a presidential pardon and harassing people involved with the proceedings.

Now, right-wing media figures are rallying to protect Stone and defend Trump and Barr’s seemingly corrupt actions. Some are continuing their calls for the president to pardon Stone, while others decry the proceedings against him as unfair, rigged, or hypocritical. Like Trump, right-wing media has also attacked individuals involved in the case, including smearing a juror based on past social media posts despite the fact that her anti-Trump opinions were posted after the trial. The smear against the juror originated with far-right Pizzagate conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich. Conservative media is also defending Barr’s apparent role in the proceedings, arguing that it is within Barr’s rights to interfere in the case and claiming his actions are understandable.

Like past defenses of Trump’s scandals, right-wing media’s strategy hinges on the conspiracy theory that a bureaucratic “deep state” has been out to undermine Trump and his allies since the 2016 election. Here are some examples of how they’re spinning the president’s abuse of power this time:

Claiming that Trump should pardon Stone

One America News Network host and “Pizzagate” conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec tweeted a meme calling on Trump to pardon Stone.

On his prime-time Fox News show, Carlson urged Trump to pardon Stone, saying that “the president could save Roger Stone's life, vindicate himself, and end his nonsense forever.”