Senior Democrats condemned US President Donald Trump's decision to commute the prison sentence for his adviser and ex-friend, Roger Stone.
A presidential candidate's spokesman, Joe Biden, accused Mr. Trump of abuse of power and "wasting" American values.
The move, which spared Stone from prison and not pardon, came after the court rejected Stone's request to postpone the start date of his 40-month prison term.
He was convicted of lying to Congress, obstruction and witnesses to tampering.
Stone was the sixth Trump aide to be convicted on charges related to a Justice Ministry investigation alleging that Russia had tried to bolster the 2016 Trump campaign.
The 67-year-old had been due to report to a federal prison in Jessup, Georgia, next Tuesday.
The White House said Stone was a victim of an attempt by his opponents to undermine the presidency.
Political critics have accused the president of undermining the judicial system by criticizing criminal cases against Stone and other former aides.
Trump has also publicly complained about the trials of the simultaneous head of the campaign, Paul Manafort and former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn.
What was the reaction?
Biden spokesman Bill Russo said Trump could not be ashamed and could only be stopped at the ballot box.
"President Trump has once again abused his power and launched this easing on Friday night, in the hope of once again avoiding scrutiny as it is wasting the standards and values that make our country a beacon of illumination for the rest of the world." He said.
Speaker of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff condemned clemency for President Trump.
"With this relief, Trump says there are two systems of justice in America: one for his criminal friends, the other for the other," said the top Democratic lawmaker.
Mr. Stone himself told reporters that under the terms of the mitigation, he could now appeal his sentence, and he was confident that he could reveal "an enormous amount of corruption" in his trial.
What did the president say?
"Roger Stone is a victim of Russia's hoax left by the left and its allies in the media for years in an attempt to undermine Trump's presidency," the White House said in a statement.
She said prosecutors at the Justice Department under Special Adviser Robert Muller accused Stone only out of frustration after failing to prove the "imagination" in which the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin.
"Roger Stone has already suffered greatly," the statement said. "He was unfairly treated, like many others in this case. Roger Stone is now a free man!"
It is hard to say that the president's decision to grant clemency to his longtime friend and political advisor is surprising, but still contradictory. Although the President contacted the Special Investigation Lawyer who killed Stone in a garment and a witch hunt, Stone was duly convicted of serious crimes.
Meanwhile, Stone's active pressure to loosen, saying recently that he could have "run" the president easily to avoid a trial, was inappropriate at best.
On the other hand, Trump appears to be enjoying controversy. Like most of his time in office, his actions are done with the same eye towards a rule that sees the incitement of political opponents as an end to itself.
What was Stone convicted of?
Replacing the president does not nullify criminal conviction as it does pardon.
Stone was found guilty of lying to the House Intelligence Committee over his attempts to contact WikiLeaks, which posted malicious e-mails about Trump's 2016 Democratic election contest Hillary Clinton.
US intelligence officials concluded that the messages were stolen by Russian pirates.
Stone admitted during the 2016 campaign that he was in contact with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
He also indicated that he knows that the site will detect more than 19,000 emails hacked from the servers of the National Democratic Committee.
Stone's sentence was less than the initial recommendation from seven to nine years of prosecutors.
In a notable move, US Attorney General William Barr reversed that guiding principle of judgment after Trump's tweet, and instead recommended a more lenient sentence.
This intervention resulted in the entire Stone Prosecution team resigning from the case.
Who is Roger Stone?
Stone has worked with Republicans since the 1970s and has Richard Nixon's tattoo on his back.
Roger Stone: Trump's ally and Russia accused
In the 1990s, Stone served as a member of the Trump casino lobbyists, and later aided the failed Trump White House in 2000.
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