Roger Stone may have screwed up and violated the judge’s new gag order already
Federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson informed Roger Stone today that he’s one word away from being thrown in jail through the end of his trial. She spelled out some specific ways in which Stone was not allowed to try to work around her new gag order. It turns out Stone may have violated it already.
Judge Jackson specifically stated that Roger Stone is not allowed to publicly “speak” about the case through his surrogates. In other words, he can’t have a conversation about the case with his friend, with the understanding that the friend will then relay Stone’s thoughts on social media. But in the hours since her ruling, some of Stone’s friends and associates have indeed been tweeting in ways that at least vaguely appear to be on Stone’s behalf.
It’s entirely up to the judge to decide whether she wants to dig in an find out whether Roger Stone has been telling these people behind the scenes to tweet things on his behalf. But there’s enough smoke to think there might be fire. Anti-Trump Republican operative Rick Wilson put it this way: “Too many of Roger’s close friends, allies, hangers-on, and toadies have already tweeted too many things after the judge’s ruling today. Stupid is forever.”
If the judge does decide that Roger Stone has indeed violated her gag order with respect to surrogates, she can throw him in jail immediately. He’ll remain there through the end of his trial. If he’s convicted, and he almost certainly will be, he’ll receive a prison sentence that’ll last for the rest of his natural life. So if Stone has screwed up again in the judge’s eyes, it’s very likely he’ll never have another day of freedom in his life. Stay tuned.
