Roger Stone asks judge for forgiveness
Roger Stone on Thursday begged the federal judge overseeing his case to give him a second chance after he posted an inflammatory photo of her to his Instagram account over the weekend.
“I abused the order for which I’m heartfully sorry,” Stone told U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson after he took the stand to defend himself in court on Thursday. “I’m kicking myself over my own stupidity.”
{mosads}Jackson called Thursday’s hearing to decide if she should change Stone’s conditions of release or impose harsher restrictions on his ability to talk to the press after he posted a headshot of her with what appeared to be the crosshairs of a rifle scope in the background.
The photo was accompanied by a critique of Jackson.
“Through legal trickery Deep State hitman Robert Mueller has guaranteed that my upcoming show trial is before Judge Amy Berman Jackson , an Obama appointed Judge who dismissed the Benghazi charges again [sic] Hillary Clinton and incarcerated Paul Manafort prior to his conviction for any crime. #fixisin Help me fight for my life at @StoneDefenseFund.com,” the since-deleted post read.
Stone, 66, a longtime GOP operative and former informal adviser to President Trump, said in court on Thursday that a volunteer had provided him with the photo, but later admitted he had been given two or three pictures from which to choose for the post.
“You had a choice?” Jackson asked.
“How hard was it to come up with a photo that didn’t have crosshairs in the corner?” she asked during another point in the hearing.
The social media post came just days after Jackson, an appointee of former President Obama, issued a gag order to prevent the parties involved from making any statements to the public or media “that pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to this case.”
Stone has been making the media rounds since he was arrested in a predawn raid of his Florida home on Jan. 25. He has been indicted on seven charges stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. Stone has pleaded not guilty to obstructing a congressional inquiry, tampering with witnesses and making false statements to Congress.
Stone had previously been out of a $250,000 bond.
Jackson is due back on the bench shortly to issue a ruling in response to the Instagram post.