Roger Stone, President Trump’s indicted former election campaign adviser, faced questions Friday about a book that risks placing him at odds with a gag order keeping him from commenting on his case.
The judge presiding over the government’s case against Mr. Stone gave his lawyers until Monday to provide further information about a forthcoming book recently mentioned in a sealed motion filed by the defense.
“It is FURTHER ORDERED that defendant shall file an additional submission by March 4, 2019 identifying the specific date of the ’imminent general rel[e]ase’ of the book … and explaining why this matter — which was known to the defendant — was not brought to the Court’s attention,” Judge Amy Berman Jackson wrote.
Grant Smith, a lawyer for Mr. Stone, declined to comment on the judge’s order when reached by The Washington Times over the weekend.
“Our filings with the honorable court will speak for themselves,” said Mr. Smith.
Public court filings did not mention specifics about the book, including its title, release date or extent of Mr. Stone’s involvement.
Less than two weeks earlier on February 18, however, Mr. Stone shared a photograph on Instagram showing the cover of a book he wrote titled, “The Myth of Russian Collusion — The Inside Story of How Donald Trump Really Won.”
“In stores March 1,” Mr. Stone captioned the Instagram post.
Mr. Stone, 66, was arrested in late January in connection with a criminal indictment reached as a result of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the 2016 election charging him with seven counts of perjury, obstruction and witness tampering. He pleaded not guilty to all counts, though he is barred from publicly commenting on the legal proceedings as the result of a gag order issued by Judge Jackson on Feb. 21.
Weighing in Friday, Judge Jackson noted that Mr. Stone’s lawyers had previously argued that a gag order was unnecessary because their client, admittedly, “should not be talking about” the case.
A longtime Republican strategist and lobbyist, Mr. Stone has previously published several political books, including “The Making of the President 2016: How Donald Trump Orchestrated a Revolution,” in 2017.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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