Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled Thursday that Stone "may not speak publicly about the investigation or the case or anyone participating in the investigation or case, period. You apparently need clear boundaries so here they are."
"Today I gave you a second chance but this is not baseball, there will not be a third chance," Jackson said. Stone may still solicit funds for his legal defense and say he's innocent of the charges, but if he violates this order again, Jackson says Stone will be thrown in jail.
Jackson had previously given Stone a partial gag order on February 15, when she ordered him to refrain from making public statements or statements to the press "that pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to this case." The order followed Stone's several laps around the talk show circuit as well as inflammatory statements outside of the courthouse and on social media, where he pleaded his case and defended his innocence.
Stone is charged with one count of obstructing a proceeding, one count of witness tampering and five counts of making false statements to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in 2017, all of which concern his alleged communications with WikiLeaks seeking information about when the hacked Democratic National Committee emails would be released to the public. That communication was done exclusively through an intermediary, believed to be comedian Randy Credico, Sputnik reported.
However, just days after Jackson's order, Stone posted on Instagram a picture of the judge with a targeting symbol in the image next to her, prompting Thursday's court appearance.
In the US District Court for the District of Columbia Thursday, Stone's story about both his understanding of the image and whose responsibility it was for posting it shifted, prompting Jackson to feel little empathy with his pleadings.
"I am not reassured by the defense that Stone is all talk and no action and this was just a big mistake," Jackson said. "This was a deliberate action. Roger Stone could not even keep his story straight on the stand."
"I can only say that I am sorry," Stone replied. "It was a momentary lapse in judgement. Perhaps I speak too much, this is a stressful situation." The post has now been deleted from Instagram.