Roger Stone may no longer speak publicly or post anything on social media relating to his case, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson imposed a full gag order on Stone in light of a photo he shared of her on his Instagram account earlier this week.
Stone posted the photo Monday, showing Jackson next to crosshairs. He then deleted the photo, and replaced it with a statement denying it “was meant to somehow threaten the Judge or disrespect [the] court.” Stone also wrote a letter to the court apologizing for the post.
Got a notification for another Roger Stone Instagram post…it’s the judge presiding over his case. And in the upper left hand corner it looks like the symbol for crosshairs. pic.twitter.com/m6IW3QznTF
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) February 18, 2019
Jackson issued a gag order last week in special counsel Robert Mueller’s case against the longtime Trump confidant, forbidding attorneys on both sides from “making statements to the media or in public settings that pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to this case.”
At the time, she said Stone was not allowed to speak about the case in the vicinity of the courthouse, but did not impose additional restrictions on him.
“I recognize that I let the court down,” Stone said in court Thursday, according to Politico. “I let you down. I let myself down. I let my family down. I let my attorneys down. I can only say I’m sorry. it was a momentary lapse in judgment. Perhaps I talk too much.”
“I am kicking myself over my own stupidity but not more than my wife is kicking me,” he said.
Jackson said she did not believe Stone’s apology was sincere.
“So thank you, but the apology rings quite hollow,” she said. “There’s nothing ambiguous about crosshairs. … You appear to need clear boundaries. So there they are.”
Since he was arrested by the FBI last month at his Fort Lauderdale, Fla., home, Stone has appeared often in media appearances attacking the special counsel’s investigation.
Stone has pleaded not guilty to lying to Congress, obstruction of an official proceeding, and witness tampering.
Stone has been a prolific poster on the social media platform, using it to defend himself against Mueller’s charges.
