Washington | President Donald Trump once again berated the "dirty cops" of the law enforcement establishment, accusing the Justice Department of going after his friends but not his enemies in a public outburst that flouted Attorney-General William Barr's pleas to stop publicly intervening in individual prosecutions where he had a personal interest.

Speaking out hours after his friend Roger Stone was sentenced to more than three years in prison for lying to protect the President, Mr Trump belittled the case and hinted broadly that he would use his clemency power to spare Stone if a judge did not agree to a retrial sought by defence lawyers.