As diabolically smart as he is, pro-Trump political hit man Roger Stone certainly does some extremely dumb things. Yet again, his behavior might land him in jail pending a November trial for lying to Congress, obstructing justice, and witness tampering. I know I’ve said that before, but this time he really might go to jail. At least we can hope.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson gave Stone’s attorneys until Thursday to explain why their client appears to have violated a gag order prohibiting him from publicly discussing his case and the investigation into Russia’s attack on U.S. elections.
Stone recently published various Instagram posts that questioned whether Russia was behind the hack of the Democratic National Committee and that were critical of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. They also criticized the U.S. intelligence community, always a bold move. In response, federal prosecutors asked the judge to hold a hearing to determine whether Stone violated the February gag order.
According to The Washington Post, there wasn’t much to Jackson’s order for a hearing, which stated in one sentence that Stone “must show cause in writing” why she shouldn’t rule that he violated the order.
This isn’t the first time Stone has tested Jackson’s patience. To begin with, Stone was slapped with the gag order after he shared a photo on Instagram of the judge with what appeared to be the crosshairs of a weapon in the background, next to her head. At the time, Stone apologized, saying he was “kicking [himself] over [his] own stupidity.”
Then, Jackson demanded to know why Stone’s lawyers hadn’t told her about a Feb. 18 Instagram post promoting a book Stone wrote called “The Myth of Russian Collusion.”
Stone also sent a text message to a BuzzFeed reporter after Trump consigliere Michael Cohen testified before the House Oversight and Reform Committee about the president’s alleged crimes. “Mr. Cohen’s statement is not true,” he texted at the time.
Stone’s attorneys responded to the latest order for a hearing by claiming their client “limited his comments to matters widely reported in the news or public court filings,” according to the Post.
The best part of Stone’s latest stunt is that he tagged media outlets in his posts, ensuring they would eventually be brought to the judge’s attention.
“Stone’s most recent posts represent a direct attempt to appeal to major media outlets to publish information that is not relevant to, but may prejudice, this case,” prosecutors wrote, according to CNN.
After being arrested by FBI agents in late January, Stone was released on a $250,000 bond and currently lives in Florida. Depending on how Jackson views his latest efforts to influence a potential jury, his next residence might just be behind bars. And it couldn’t have happened to a dumber smart guy.