The judge who is overseeing the trial of Roger Stone issued a gag order last week which prohibits the parties, counsel and witnesses from making comments in or near the courthouse that might “pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to [the] case.” 
She also specified that the parties and witnesses should not make statements to the media or in public settings “intended to influence any juror, potential juror, judge, witness or court officer or interfere with the administration of justice.”
A quick look at Stone’s Instagram page indicates that he did not fully internalize the latter message.
Clearly, this transgression did not take place in or near the courthouse, but it certainly was a public statement. It’s hard to see how it was not intended to have some influence over potential jurors and witnesses. The bigger problem may be how it influences the judge. In her ruling, Amy Berman Jackson made it clear that she might amend her limited gag rule in the future if circumstances warranted a change.
At a minimum, I doubt she will appreciate how Stone has characterized her treatment of Hillary Clinton and Paul Manafort or the suggestion that she is not objective because she was appointed by Barack Obama. She won’t like seeing her courtroom described as a venue for “an upcoming show trial,” nor the assertion that her assignment to the case is part of some devious plot hatched in collusion with the Office of Special Counsel. I don’t even think she will take lightly the jab at Robert Mueller, that he is a “Deep State hitman.”
Normal people who are about to go on trial do not go after the judge. Of course, Roger Stone is not a normal person. His only hope in Jackson’s courtroom is for a hung jury. There is no chance he will win an acquittal on all charges. So, tampering with the jury is key to his defense strategy. More than though, it’s clear that he wants to raise money to pay for his defense. If he gets slapped around for it, I guess he figures it is worth the risk.
Stone probably realizes that he’s going to spend the rest of his life in prison if this trial goes forward in a normal way and he doesn’t receive a presidential pardon. Respecting the gag order would serve neither end.
So, here we are.
And then he takes the post down and tries to gaslight everyone about his intentions.
Buzzfeed
I would so like to see Judge Berman hold him in contempt.
Slap him jail for contempt.
What seems likely to happen is that the Judge would reconsider her gag order to include whatever statements Stone makes that she considers problematic.
His antics are designed to please Trump in hopes of obtaining a pardon. But, Trump would take intense heat if he pardoned Stone at this point. And there’s little to nothing in it for Trump, since Stone has essentially burned his bridges to prosecutors who are not at all likely to offer him a favorable deal in exchange for leniency.
Since there’s no likelihood of a “flip” Trump doesn’t have to pardon him to stop his mouth.
He probably should have been a LOT more cooperative with Mueller in the beginning so that Trump would be afraid he would “flip” and offer him a pardon. Right now, Trump has nothing to gain and everything to lose by pardoning Stone so it won’t happen.
He’s filed an apology with the court.
https:/www.mediaite.com/online/roger-stone-apologizes-for-improper-instagram-post-on-judge-in-court
-filing
Hilarious. He couldn’t even be bothered to spell Instagram correctly. He has clowns for attorneys. The damage is done; he can’t sorry not sorry his way out of it.
he did not fully internalize the latter message. Now THAT’S understatement
Now he’ll argue that the judge is biased against him, and should recuse. Akin to asking for mercy as an orphan after killing your parents.
The GOP let Sarah Palin get away with putting bulls eyes on elected Reps. The GOP is too weak to say anything. Stone should loose his go fund me acct because of this threat to a judge.
When they start in on questioning the legitimacy of the courts, then America is in really bad shape. Legislators can fight back. Justices can’t overtly push back with the same amount of media exposure. They’re limited to the courtroom to make their dissatisfaction known. Can you imagine a sitting judge calling a press conference? They need support because these are scary times reminiscent of Adolf Hitler’s top legal counsel Carl Schmitt claiming that Hitler was empowered with Auctoritas, or the highest form of administrative justice/ the highest law of the land. Is that next on repulsive Trump’s bucket list?
OOPS
She’s a real hardass from what I’ve read. Hopefully this means jail, and not house arrest.
Roger may find that his clownface antics and time-honored ratfucking techniques may not work too well when one is a criminal defendant. Obviously his lawyers are professional clowns as well, since Der Trumper certainly doesn’t need these sort of anti-Mueller ravings in order to be persuaded to pardon a morally deranged Nixonian dirty-trickster and high level “conservative” operative of several decades standing, particularly one who apparently was delighted to be deployed as part of the Trumper/Putin election ratfucking operation.
The social media antics are for the delectation of the hard-core National Trumpalists, who are cheering on these sort of white nationalist provocations. The antics also are inseparable from the the sort of lunatic ravings that this demented person has engaged in for his entire adult life. Showman and lunatic, the roles long ago merged.
Having said that, the reality is that we are now in a situation where–as a result of reckless “conservative” extremism in the service of wrecking the nation–we are presented with democratically legitimate judges and democratically illegitimate ones. The 5 man “conservative” Supreme Court majority installed by popular-vote loser Der Trumper and a Repub senate majority representing a minority of American citizens is without question democratically illegitimate, for example.
And there needs to be some way to speak about this phenomenon of (Repub) judicial illegitimacy. Obviously Roberts’ Repubs will be hiding behind their robes and the (past) prestige of their vaunted institution as they diligently (and without the consent of the governed) remake the nation in the “conservative” image over the next 4 decades.
His lawyers immediately panicked and order him to sign an apology letter, immediately.
He’s used to rat-fucking his opponents with no consequences, and I have no doubt that he fully intended to browbeat or intimidate the judge by putting her picture up with some cross-hairs. He’s a moron like most in Trump’s orbit, and has no clue that you don’t do things like that in Federal Court. Even laughing in court is severely frowned on. Talking out of turn is forbidden.
And criminal defendants and lawyers are expected to be extremely deferential. Stone is used to doing whatever he wants, and clearly expects Trump to protect him.
That Trump has no intention of doing so is equally clear, because there’s no upside to Trump pardoning Stone. Stone is not going to flip because Prosecutors detest him and don’t trust him at all so they won’t offer him any deals. He’s going to sit in prison until some future Republican president takes office and his friends can plea for clemency “he’s already served 10 years in Club Fed and he’s really really old now.”