Tag: Stone trial

Judge Slaps Roger Stone With Social Media Restriction For Violating Order

Roger Stone has repeatedly risked his pre-trial freedom as he awaits the court battle over the charges brought against him by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. And once again on Tuesday, he skirted free of ending up in jail even as Judge Amy Berman Jackson found that he had violated her court order limiting his public comments about the case against him.

Instead of revoking his bail, Judge Jackson banned him from posting on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook while his trial is pending.

“The clarity of my order is undisputed,” said Jackson. “It didn’t take a week before the defendant was emailing BuzzFeed, calling a witness in this investigation a liar.”

View the complete July 16 article by Cody Fenwick from AlterNet on the National Memo website here.

How Roger Stone’s Trial May Expose Trump’s Wrongdoing

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office is no more, but the legacy of his office lives on.

One major component of that legacy is the prosecution Roger Stone, President Donald Trump’s longtime ally and friend, who is facing charges of misleading Congress, obstructing justice and intimidating a witness. He is currently scheduled to go to trial in November 2019, an event that could refocus the nation’s attention on Trump’s complicity with Russia’s attacks on the 2016 election. It could also expose troubling new details about Trump’s connections to WikiLeaks.

As reporter Marcy Wheeler noted in a new blog post Thursday about the Stone case, many of the most intriguing redactions in the Mueller report relate to right-wing firebrand. The Justice Department, with good reason, redacted information related to Stone to preserve his right to a fair trial.

View the complete May 30 article by Cody Fenwick from AlterNet on the National Memo website here.

‘Fierce’ judge in Mueller cases tested by Stone

Federal district court Judge Amy Berman Jackson couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

Roger Stone, an associate of President Trump, admitted in open court that a volunteer had given him two or three photos of the judge to choose from, and for an Instagram post he picked the one that appeared to show the crosshairs of a rifle scope behind Jackson’s head.

“You had a choice?” Jackson asked, incredulous after Stone’s admission.

View the complete March 6 article by Lydia Wheeler on The Hill website here.

Judge warns Roger Stone of ‘costs and consequences’ for his new book release amid gag order

Roger Stone as he left federal court in Washington on Feb. 1. Credit: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP

Attorneys for Roger Stone withheld and misrepresented plans for his new book criticizing special counsel Robert S. Mueller III in violation of a gag order in his case, a federal judge found Tuesday, warning that any “costs or consequences” that result are solely his responsibility.

The new order by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of Washington does not spell out consequences but bodes ill for the longtime friend of President Trump and Republican operative, who asked the court for leeway late Friday regarding the “imminent release” of a new version of his book about Trump’s 2016 campaign, retitled “The Myth of Russian Collusion.”

Jackson found that, in fact, Stone deliberately waited until after publication to disclose plans that had been underway for weeks, suggesting his defense was using her docket to gin up publicity for the book.

View the complete March 5 article by Spencer S. Hsu on The Washington Post website here.

Judge orders Roger Stone to explain imminent release of book that may violate gag order

Roger Stone, a former campaign adviser for President Trump, leaves federal court in Washington on Feb. 1. Credit: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP

Republican operative and longtime Trump friend Roger Stone faced fresh legal trouble Friday after a federal judge ordered his attorneys to explain why they failed to tell her before now about the imminent publication of a book that could violate his gag order by potentially criticizing the judge or prosecutors with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

The order by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the District of Columbia late Friday came barely eight days after Jackson barred Stone from speaking publicly about his case, prompted by a photo posted on Stone’s Instagram account that placed a crosshairs next to a photo of Jackson’s head.

Stone apologized for abusing the court’s trust, asking for a second chance. Jackson said in imposing the gag order Feb. 21 that it would be “foolhardy” to wait for him to transgress again, that she had “serious doubts whether you’ve learned any lesson at all,” and warned she would order him to jail for future violations.

View the complete March 3 article by Spencer S. Hsu and Manuel Roig-Franzia on The Washington Post website here.

Judge issues partial gag order in Roger Stone case

Credit: Seth Wenig, AP Photo

A federal judge on Friday issued a gag order in the Mueller investigation’s case against longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone, restricting the attorneys for both parties from making statements to the media or the public that could influence the outcome of the trial.

Why it matters: The gag order also restricts Stone from making comments within the vicinity of the courthouse. Stone, who filed a response opposing the gag order last week, is a notoriously brash and theatrical political operative who frequently posts on social media about his view that the Mueller investigation is a partisan “witch hunt.” The judge did not say she would impose additional restrictions on Stone at this time, but may reconsider in the future.

View the complete February 15 article by Zachary Basu, which includes the court filing, on the Axios website here.