Roger Stone Pissed Off a Federal Judge Again

By David Boddiger  |  June 22, 2019 | 7:54pm
Trumpland

As diabolically
smart as he is, pro-Trump political hit man Roger Stone certainly does some extremely
dumb things. Yet again, his behavior might land him in jail pending a November
trial for lying
to Congress, obstructing justice, and witness tampering. I know I’ve said that before, but this time he really might go to jail. At least we can hope.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson gave
Stone’s attorneys until Thursday to explain why their client appears
to have violated a gag order prohibiting him from publicly discussing his
case and the investigation into Russia’s attack on U.S. elections.

Stone recently
published various Instagram posts that questioned whether Russia was behind
the hack of the Democratic National Committee and that were critical of Special
Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. They also criticized the U.S.
intelligence community, always a bold move. In response, federal prosecutors asked the judge to
hold a hearing to determine whether Stone violated the February gag order.

According to The
Washington Post, there wasn’t much to Jackson’s order for a hearing, which
stated in one sentence that Stone “must
show cause in writing” why she shouldn’t rule that he violated the order.

This isn’t the first time Stone has tested Jackson’s
patience. To begin with, Stone was slapped with the gag order after he shared a
photo on Instagram of the judge with what appeared to be the crosshairs
of a weapon in the background, next to her head. At the time, Stone
apologized, saying he was “kicking [himself] over [his] own stupidity.”

Then, Jackson demanded to know why Stone’s lawyers hadn’t
told her about a Feb. 18 Instagram post promoting a book Stone wrote called
“The Myth of Russian Collusion.”

Stone also sent
a text message to a BuzzFeed reporter after Trump consigliere Michael Cohen
testified before the House Oversight and Reform Committee about the president’s
alleged crimes. “Mr. Cohen’s statement is not true,” he texted at the time.

Stone’s attorneys responded to the latest order for a
hearing by claiming their client “limited his comments to matters widely
reported in the news or public court filings,” according to the Post.

The best part of Stone’s latest stunt is that he tagged
media outlets in his posts, ensuring they would eventually be brought to
the judge’s attention.

“Stone’s most recent posts represent a direct attempt to
appeal to major media outlets to publish information that is not relevant to,
but may prejudice, this case,” prosecutors wrote, according to CNN.

After being arrested by
FBI agents in late January, Stone was released on a $250,000 bond and currently
lives in Florida. Depending on how Jackson views his latest efforts to
influence a potential jury, his next residence might just be behind bars. And
it couldn’t have happened to a dumber smart guy.

 
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