Prosecutors alert judge of possible gag order breach by Stone

The government on Monday notified the federal judge presiding over Roger Stone’s criminal case in D.C. that the longtime Donald Trump associate had shared a photo on his Instagram account over the weekend that suggested he’s been framed.

Special counsel Robert Mueller and U.S. Attorney Jessie Liu said in a notice to U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson that Stone shared an image on March 3 with the title “who framed Roger Stone.”

The post, which The Huffington Post reported looked like a “Roger Rabbit”-inspired photo illustration, came after Stone was ordered by Jackson not to talk publicly about his case or Mueller’s Russia investigation.

{mosads}The gag order, which extended to all of Stone’s social media accounts, came after he posted a threatening photo of Jackson with what appeared to be the crosshairs of a rifle scope behind her head to his Instagram last month.

It was revealed Friday that Stone is about to release a new book.

In a late ruling, Jackson ordered Stone to explain why he had not informed the court that he had a new book coming out and granted his request to ask the court under seal to clarify its gag order. 

In a redacted version of the sealed motion released Monday, Stone’s attorneys said the book titled “The Myth of Russian Collusion” is the rerelease of his book “The Making of the President 2016,” which was originally published in 2017.

“To the best of Stone’s knowledge, information, and belief, not a single word in the book was created after February 21, 2019,” his attorneys said.

On Feb. 18, Stone posted a photo of the new book on Instagram and said it would be available in stores on March 1. The cover notes that the book is a rerelease but says it now has “an explosive new introduction.”

Mueller and Liu also told Jackson that a preview of Stone’s book, including the updated introduction referenced in his motion, is publicly available on Amazon and Google Books. 

Stone has asked that the publication of this book not be viewed as contravening the court’s gag order.