More than 1,100 former justice department officials have called on US attorney-general William Barr to resign, accusing him of doing Donald Trump’s “bidding” by intervening to reduce the proposed sentence of the president’s longtime friend Roger Stone.

The signatories to the open letter, which condemned Mr Barr for allegedly allowing political appointees to overrule career prosecutors, also urged current justice department employees to report unethical behaviour to the inspector-general or Congress. 

The former lawyers, who have collectively served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, said that while they welcomed Mr Barr’s “belated acknowledgment” that law enforcement decisions must be independent of politics, his “actions in doing the president’s bidding unfortunately speak louder than his words”.