WASHINGTON — A federal judge told Roger Stone on Friday that she did not want him to treat the criminal case against him like “a book…
WASHINGTON — A federal judge told Roger Stone on Friday that she did not want him to treat the criminal case against him like “a book tour,” and said she was considering issuing a gag order to quiet the prolific political operative and longtime confidant of President Donald Trump.
Stone has conducted a carousel of television interviews since FBI agents arrested him last week on charges that he lied to Congress and tried to obstruct the investigation of Russian interference into the 2016 election. He has suggested the case against him is a plot to install Hillary Clinton in the White House, criticized the early morning raid on his house and even offered tips on what to wear to court when being arraigned.
U. S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said she was concerned that the continued publicity surrounding the case against the 66-year-old political operative could “taint” the jury pool. She gave Stone’s lawyers and federal prosecutors until next Friday to tell her whether she should issue an order preventing them all from talking publicly about the case.
Berman said the “considerable publicity” related to the case has been “fueled by extra-judicial statements by the defendant himself.
