President Trump’s former campaign adviser Roger Stone will not be jailed or held in contempt of court for his social media gag order violations, but a judge banned him from all social media usage going forward.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson originally put a gag order on Mr. Stone in February for posting an image of her near crosshairs. She also banned him from making any public comments on his case or any part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
She said his repeated violations made it seem “he’s determined to make himself the subject of the story,” according to Politico.
Mr. Stone’s gag order originally allowed him to claim his innocence and ask for donations to help with legal fees, but he commented on topics regarding Mr. Mueller’s investigation on multiple occasions.
In one such example, Mr. Stone told Buzzfeed News Mr. Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen’s February house testimony was “not true.”
On Instagram, Mr. Stone asked “Who Framed Roger Stone,” applying he was set up, and two others insulting House Intelligence Committee Vice-Chair Adam Schiff with the captions “Bullschiff” and “if it’s Schiff Flush it.”
Federal prosecutors didn’t suggest Mr. Stone should receive jail time but they said the “minimal” move would be to clarify topics Mr. Stone can discuss, banning him from social media altogether at most.
Mr. Stone was indicted in January for misleading the House Intelligence Committee about his connection to WikiLeaks. Mr. Stone and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange have both denied communicating with each other.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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