Roger Stone is tired of not being on TV

Roger Stone’s recent social media posts challenging the criminal charges he’s fighting put him in violation of a court-imposed gag order and may require him to be jailed, federal prosecutors argued in a new motion on Thursday.

The U.S. attorney from Washington, D.C., who is handling the case originally brought by special counsel Robert Mueller against the longtime Donald Trump adviser, took issue with several of Stone’s posts on Instagram, including several this week that question why he’s not getting more media coverage about his attorneys’ recent legal filings.

[...]

“At best, Stone’s efforts could create the misimpression that this case is about issues that are not charged in the Indictment, and risk the trial ‘devolv[ing] into a circus,’” the prosecutors said, citing Jackson’s own words. “But worse, it could confuse prospective jurors or color how they later view the actually-relevant evidence and understand the Court’s instructions about that evidence.”

[...]

At issue are posts Stone started making Tuesday, including a message asking why several major news organizations didn’t cover a recent filing his lawyers made arguing that the government did not independently verify that Russian operatives hacked the Democratic National Committee in 2016. Stone posted several more articles touting his attorneys’ work, tagging one, “Funny, No @nytimes or @washingtonpost coverage of this development.”

Also included in the government’s filing is Stone’s comment, written on Instagram, about a May report in POLITICO describing Jackson’s order to see any unredacted portions of the Mueller report related to his case. “The Judge has ruled but @Politico gets most of the story wrong because they are biased elitist snot-nosed fake news shitheads who’s specialty is distortion by omitting key facts to create a false narrative. #rogerstonedidnothingwrong #rogerstone #fakenews,” Stone’s post said.

[...]

One image posted by Stone that prosecutors brought to the court’s attention called former CIA Director John Brennan a “psycho who must be charged, tried, convicted . . . . and hung for treason.”

  Politico

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Your Honor, we're very sorry

Roger Stone's lawyers apologized on Monday for failing to disclose that Stone was in the middle of releasing a book while under a gag order.

  Business Insider

Please, Judge Jackson, don't get any madder.

On March 1, his lawyers said in a court filing that his book would be "imminently release[d]," when in fact it had been available online since February 19. The judge accused Stone's lawyers of using his case to drum up publicity for the book and warned that any "costs or consequences" Stone faced as a result would be his own doing.

Did they think she was a dummy like them?

"There was/is no intention to hide anything," Stone's lawyer wrote in Monday's filing. "Having been scolded, we seek only to defend Mr. Stone and move ahead without further ado."

LOL. We've tried all our tricks and failed. Now let's go forward with a clean slate. Okay?

But in an email Stone wrote to Skyhorse Publishing editor Michael Campbell on February 15 — six days before the gag order was imposed — he expressed concerns that a potential gag order would interfere with the promotion of his book.

[...]

"Recognize that the judge may issue a gag order any day now and while we will appeal it, that could take a while," Stone wrote to Campbell on February 15.

He discussed that with his publisher but not his lawyers?  I'm feeling skeptical. 

Stone's lawyers [...] denied using a March 1 court filing to drum up publicity for the book. Though they wrote in the filing that the book would be "imminently release[d]," it had been available online since February 19. [...] [ A few days after the March 1 filing, Jackson found that Stone deliberately waited until after the book's publication to disclose plans for publication that had been underway for weeks. The timing, she said, suggested his lawyers were using his case to spin publicity for the book. She added that any "costs or consequences" that result from the mix-up are Stone's responsibility.

Rogow acknowledged the error in the March 1 filing, saying that Stone had reminded his lawyers of the book after the gag order was issued on February 21.

Sure.

"The new introduction, post February 21, 2019, presented a question we tried, obviously clumsily, to address."

No intentional attempt to hide. Just clumsy. Let's put this all behind us.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Judge Jackson denies Stone's "Motion for Clarification"

I think she should have stopped there.  But she went on for five pages.

She addresses the "re-release of a book defendant published in 2017, which had been augmented in January of 2019 with a new introduction that is critical of the ongoing investigation by the Office of Special Counsel."  She confirms that she then ordered Stone to file additional paper "identifying the specific date of the 'imminent general release' of the book."




 [...]




She then tells him that the gag order "is entirely the fault of the defendant," as she didn't impose any restrictions on him at all until he "abused the latitude" given him (in his own words).





And, in a footnote, she notes that she's not fooled by his intentions.






You might think neither Stone or his lawyer has ever had any dealings with a judge before.

Judge Jackson also notes this exchange for the earlier hearing when she came down on Stone for publishing a picture of her with a crosshairs symbol and Stone's absurd plea was that her limited order wasn't clear.










How she doesn't come off her chair and knock these clowns in the head, I don't know.




  


I have to say, all this bullshit IS keeping him in the news, so he's got that going for him.










And if he's angling to have cause to try to get her removed as the judge, I think he's going to be sorely disappointed.

Jackson's Order posted by Politico.

Notice to Judge Jackson

Uh-oh.  Looks like Mueller's team thinks he's violating the terms of his gag order.

I hope CNN is on hand for the perp walk.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Roger Stone wants to go to jail

I say we give him what he wants.







...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:



UPDATE:

Keeping Roger Stone in line

It's a never-ending, difficult task.

Republican operative and Trump associate Roger Stone found himself in more legal trouble Friday after a federal judge demanded an explanation as to why he did not disclose the “imminent” publication of a book that may violate a gag order.

U.S. District Amy Berman Jackson imposed the gag order last week after Stone posted a picture on his Instagram page that put crosshairs over Jackson’s head.

The gag prohibits Stone from discussing his case in public, including criticizing Jackson or special counsel Robert Mueller, which the book reportedly does.

“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,” Jackson wrote in Friday’s court order.

[...]

She also said when she imposed the gag order that she had “serious doubts whether [Stone] learned any lesson at all,” and said she would consider sending Stone to jail for future transgressions.

  The Hill

UPDATE:

Let's check in on Roger Stone

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

3 days may be a record for Roger Stone

Keeping track here.

Somebody has no faith in Roger Stone

Check out this website any time you wonder if Stone has violated his gag order:



...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Roger Stone (deservedly) got his ass handed to him on a platter

Some of my favorite parts of the gag order hearing transcript:

Begin this section with Mr. Rogow, Stone's attorney:









Because HE thinks that's the test that should be applied!  That's either really ballsy or really stupid.  Maybe both.

But, wait.  There's more.






I don't have any legal authority.  I just think that's the way it ought to be.  He really expects that to work in a court of law?   Is Roger Stone pulling from the same pool of lawyers as Trump?





Your his lawyer, for Chrissake.  You don't know if the company from which he receives his income is his own?  I guess we could ask him.  He's sitting right there.






Whatever happened to the idea that you never ask a question of your witness that you don't already know the answer to?









"And I expect you to be able to answer my questions."  How humiliating.  He can't say he wasn't warned.  But he just doesn't get it.  Neither he nor Roger Stone apparently had any clue what they were getting into.  At least from this transcript, it's obvious the lawyer knew immediately the trouble that Instagram post of Stone's was.  It's less obvious that he knows how to defend a case.







Thank you, Judge.  Roger Stone pretending he doesn't know the meaning of the word random was sticking in my craw, too.

Here is Special Counsel attorney Kravis cross-examining:








Clearly. And not having much success.

He got tired of struggling after a while, and when the judge questioned him about statements he made on Infowars...







Look.  I told you I regret it, it was an error, I meant no harm, I admit I abused your generosity.  My attorney and I think that's all I need to say.  Why are you still asking me questions?

Not the best way to go forward.





At which point, I imagine, the inside of his head exploded.





And then he relaxed, because he thought that ended the matter.  And it did.  For the judge.  Just not the ending Stone thought he was getting.






I think it's fairly obvious that Stone had saved this picture on his phone himself.  First, he says someone sent it to him, and then after a little weaseling, he said, or maybe it was saved on my phone.  And, if he wanted to know who sent it to him, all he had to do was go back in his messages and check.  If he'd deleted the text or email, he himself then saved the picture.  Trying to drag some volunteer into the situation to blame is just  shameful, and certainly not "accepting responsibility" as he claims (several times) he's doing.

After some further grilling by the judge and the Special Counsel, Stone's attorney gets up for redirect:





LOL.  It's not just Stone who doesn't get it.  His attorney still thinks that if he just says he's so, so, so, fucking sorry, he'll be fine.

And, finally...





God, what idiots.








LOL.

Obviously Rogow doesn't know what the word indefensible means or they would have just thrown themselves on the mercy of the court and kept Stone off the stand.

The judge gave the Special Counsel a turn to weigh in on what he thought should be done.







Judge Jackson then took Stone's attorney to task again for bullshitting her, and, having picked up nothing from the day's proceedings,  he tries to fight back.









Oh, honey.  Bad, BAD start of a sentence. Do not put yourself in the same bag with the judge.  I assure you she sees no connection between the two of you other than you're both people in the same room. She can eat you for lunch.







It's painfully obvious that you don't.






Uh-huh.  What would Stone mouth off about if you gave him a finite list of things he shouldn't be saying?  He knows what he shouldn't be saying.  But he'll say it if it's not on the list.  He's not a child.  He just acts like one.

The judge took a break, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Judge Jackson:

 [...] 

 [...] 

It would be my guess that it was - and still is - his intent to stoke such reactions so that he can claim he can't get a fair trial.

 [...] 

Ouch.

 [...] 

That's pretty clear.  I hope Stone and Rogow picked it up.







And this is going to be harder for Roger Stone than jail will be.


The whole transcript.

UPDATE:



Good advice.