Tuesday U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson denied the longtime friend of President Trump, Roger Stone’s Motion For Clarification regarding the Judge’s gag-order that was issued in February.
As The Washington Post reported on Sunday, Stone, “faced fresh legal trouble Friday after a federal judge ordered his attorneys to explain why they failed to tell her before now about the imminent publication of a book that could violate his gag order by potentially criticizing the judge or prosecutors with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.”
As the article notes the minute order by Judge Jackson was posted “on the court’s electronic docket after office hours Friday, said she was allowing Stone’s defense team to file under seal a motion apparently to clarify the court’s gag order and an unspecified accompanying exhibit, and ordered a court clerk to make public Stone’s request.”
According to Tuesday’s order, Judge Jackson writes regarding the defense motion filed on Monday, that, “without providing any explanation for the misrepresentation in the motion, defendant informed the Court that the use of the word “imminent” had been a “misnomer” because the book is already for sale.”
She goes on to explain, that regardless of whether or not the book’s release was “imminent,” or already published, February’s gag-order was clear, as it prohibits, “and continues to prohibit the defendant from making any public statements, using any medium, concerning the investigation.”
Judge Jackson also notes that “the fact the order exists at all is entirely the fault of the defendant,” as the News Blender reported Stone was brought back to Court in February after he posted an image on Instagram that featured the Judge with what appeared to be “cross-hairs” above her head.
She also addresses in her order the concern that her gag-order might violate the U.S. Constitution writing, “the Court notes that the defense may have waived any right to complain that the restriction offends the Constitution. Counsel for the defendant specifically proposed that the Court impose an order barring speech about the prosecution in the wake of the comments that the defendant himself had characterized as “improper.””
Judge Jackson concluded her order by giving Stone until March 11, to file a status report on Stone’s “efforts to come into compliance with the Court’s rulings.”
She went on to order that given the “unexplained inconsistencies between the statements made to the Court on March 1 and March 4, the defendant must supplement the record by March 11, 2019.”
She lists four key areas the defendant must answer regarding the introduction of his book that has been added to the book that was allegedly both about to be released, but already on sale.
The Judge did not address a new filing by Mueller’s Office that informed the Judge of another Instagram post that possibly violated the gag-order.
According to CNBC News, who first reported the Instagram post featuring Stone wearing a “Who Framed Roger Stone,” t-shirt, that has since been deleted, the Special Counsel’s Office did not take a position “on whether Stone’s post had violated the gag order,” the Office was simply informing the Court of the posts existence.
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