Roger Stone May Have Bail Revoked After Threatening Instagram Post Of Jewish Judge
A screenshot of a now-deleted Instagram post from Roger Stone, featuring a crosshairs near Berman Jackson’s head. Image by Instagram
By Ari Feldman February 19, 2019
Roger Stone outside the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on January 25. Image by Getty
The federal judge in Roger Stone’s case may revoke his bail Thursday after Stone published an Instagram post that appeared to feature a crosshairs near the judge’s head, Talking Points Memo reported.
Stone, a longtime Donald Trump associate, was arrested last month on charges that he communicated with Wikileaks on trying to secure a cache of emails that would be damaging to Hillary Clinton. He is the latest Trump associate indicted in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The judge in Stone’s case, Amy Berman Jackson, is also the judge in a case involving Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman. On Monday, Stone put up an Instagram post on his personal account that featured a crosshairs by Berman Jackson’s head.
A screenshot of a now-deleted Instagram post from Roger Stone, featuring a crosshairs near Berman Jackson’s head. Image by Instagram
Stone wrote that through “legal trickery Deep State hitman Robert Mueller has guaranteed that my upcoming show trial is before Judge Amy Berman Jackson.” Stone called Berman Jackson “an Obama appointed Judge who dismissed the Benghazi against Hillary Clinton and incarcerated Paul Manafort prior to his conviction for any crime.”
Stone later deleted the post and apologized Monday for posting it. He said that the post was “misinterpreted,” and the notion “that this was meant to somehow threaten the Judge or disrespect the court is categorically false.”
But by then, Berman Jackson had already scheduled a hearing for Thursday to reexamine the terms of Stone’s release after making bail. She also indicated that she could tighten Stone’s gag order, which currently only prohibits him speaking about the case on the steps outside the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Stone has pleaded not guilty to the charges from federal prosecutors.
Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. Contact him at feldman@forward.com or follow him on Twitter @aefeldman
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