Judge bars Roger Stone from social media, says ex-Trump adviser violated gag order
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A federal judge on Tuesday barred former Trump adviser Roger Stone – facing charges of tampering, obstruction and false statements in a case brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller – from posting anything on social media after determining Stone violated her gag order not to discuss the case.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, in federal court in Washington, ordered Stone to stay off Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms, saying he did not abide by her previous order to not comment on the case. She did not order Stone to jail.
“I said you can’t talk about it at all,” Jackson told Stone in court.
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JUDGE ORDERS ROGER STONE TO COURT OVER INFLAMMATORY INSTAGRAM POST
Prosecutors argued Stone had violated the judge's gag order with Instagram posts that disparaged the Mueller investigation and the broader election interference probe.
Defense lawyers have said nothing Stone posted on social media ran afoul of the judge's order or would prevent an unbiased jury from hearing the case.
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Jackson imposed the order in February after Stone posted a photo of the judge with what appeared to be the crosshairs of a gun.
Stone, the colorful former longtime political adviser to Trump, was indicted in January.
The indictment does not charge Stone with conspiring with WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy website that published emails of Democrats during the 2016 campaign, or with the Russian officers Mueller says hacked them. Instead, it accuses him of lying about his interactions related to WikiLeaks' release during probes by Congress and Mueller’s team.
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Stone has contested the charges.
"I will plead not guilty to these charges," Stone said at the time. "I will defeat them in court. This is a politically-motivated investigation."
Fox News’ Anne Marie Riha and The Associated Press contributed to this report.