Roger Stone shares, quickly deletes Instagram photo of federal judge on his case

Former Trump campaign informal adviser Roger Stone on Monday posted a picture on Instagram of U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson — the federal judge overseeing his criminal case — with what appeared to be small crosshairs next to her head.

The post on Stone’s Instagram account was quickly deleted, and he later apologized to the court.

“Through legal trickery Deep State hitman Robert Mueller has guaranteed that my upcoming show trial is before Judge Amy Berman Jackson , an Obama appointed Judge who dismissed the Benghazi charges again [sic] Hillary Clinton and incarcerated Paul Manafort prior to his conviction for any crime. #fixisin Help me fight for my life at @StoneDefenseFund.com,” the post read.

Got a notification for another Roger Stone Instagram post…it’s the judge presiding over his case. And in the upper left hand corner it looks like the symbol for crosshairs. pic.twitter.com/m6IW3QznTF

— Yashar Ali (@yashar) February 18, 2019

{mosads}Included in the picture was a banner at the bottom with Berman Jackson’s name displayed under her face.

Stone, a longtime ally of President Trump, was arrested last month during an FBI raid of his home. He was later released on $250,000 bond and has pleaded not guilty to charges of obstruction of justice and lying to Congress.

Just last week Berman Jackson issued a gag order on Stone that prohibits him from discussing the case in public or with the media.

The decision to place a gag order on Stone comes after he appeared on several news shows following his arrest in relation to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Berman Jackson is an appointee of former President Obama.

“A photo of Judge Jackson posted on my Instagram has been misinterpreted. This was a random photo taken from the internet. Any inference that this was meant to threaten the judge or disrespect court is categorically false,” Stone said in a statement to The Hill that he later posted on Instagram.

He added that “what some say are cross hairs are in fact the logo of the organization that originally posted it.”

Stone’s attorneys filed an official apology with the court later Monday, saying “Mr. Stone recognizes the impropriety” of the Instagram post “and had it removed.”

— Jacqueline Thomsen contributed to this report, which was updated at 8:45 p.m.