Longtime Donald Trump ally and right-wing political operative Roger Stone was ordered to appear with his lawyers in the courtroom of Judge Amy Berman Jackson today, to show cause as to why Stone shouldn't lose his liberty (or at least be gagged) over his ill-advised Instagram threat post.
Below: Tweets from the courtroom today, as Roger Stone testified.
Jackson begins by entering the insta post on the record. She asks his lawyer Bruce Rogow if her media contact order should be modified. Rogow says no - they believe Stone should have another opportunity to comply. He offers to put Stone on the stand.
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) February 21, 2019
Stone says he can't rationalize his thinking because he wasn't thinking. "And that's my own fault."
— Britain Eakin (@BritainEakin) February 21, 2019
Stone says he was grateful for the initial leeway the judge gave him in her original media contact order. Jackson asks if he's being paid for his commentary about his case. Stone says he is not. He says he's having trouble making money right now.
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) February 21, 2019
Stone: "I am kicking myself over my own stupidity. But not more than my wife is kicking me." Says he had a lapse in judgment, his Instagram post was an outgrowth of extreme stress of situation. He calls it a "stupid, egregious error."
— Britain Eakin (@BritainEakin) February 21, 2019
Stone says the post was the "outgrowth of the extreme stress of the situation." He says he didn't choose the image, but takes responsibility for posting it.
Stone: "This was an egregious, stupid error for which I apologize to the court."
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) February 21, 2019
Stone repeats he's under stress, says thoughts of being raped in prison if he's convicted are stressing him out. Says he let the court, his family and his attorneys down. "I can only say I"m sorry...forgive the trespass."
— Britain Eakin (@BritainEakin) February 21, 2019
Stone says the crosshairs are a Celtic occultic symbol, he discovered, after having researched it. When ABJ asks what it means, Stone says, "I don't know your honor, I'm not into the occult."
— Britain Eakin (@BritainEakin) February 21, 2019
"I honestly didn't believe that these were crosshairs," Stone says, adding that he believes media misreported the symbol's meaning. But says he took it down immediately so it wouldn't be misinterpreted.
— Britain Eakin (@BritainEakin) February 21, 2019
Stone says he relies on volunteers for certain things, he's not technologically proficient. Jackson asks if he knows how to search google for images and if his volunteers know how to do that. Stone says yes. Jackson asks, How hard is it find a photo that didn't have crosshairs?
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) February 21, 2019
Jackson is grilling Stone on why he apologized if he didn't think the cross in the post was a crosshairs and was being misinterpreted -- “It was improper for me to criticize at all, I recognize that,” he replies. "I didn't have a malicious intent."
— Rachel Weiner (@rachelweinerwp) February 21, 2019
ABJ wants to know how Stone can be deeply, sincerely sorry when he's been on a media spree talking about his Instagram post. Stone: "I have no rationalization or excuse ... it was just an error."
— Britain Eakin (@BritainEakin) February 21, 2019
Stone said he did not recognize the image at first and when he examined it later and researched it he said it was a Celtic symbol.
Jackson asks if it's an occult symbol.
Jackson: "What does it mean?"
Stone: "I don't know, your honor, I'm not into the occult."
— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) February 21, 2019
Jackson asks how Stone being sorry squares with him continuing to speak publicly about the Instagram post issue after it was taken down. Stone says he was referring to what he saw a distortion of what he posted. He said he didn't have "malicious intent"
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) February 21, 2019
Prosecutors up now to question Stone. But ABJ interjects almost immediately and wants to know if he saw the image before he posted it. Stone says yes. But he does not know who posted the image. ABJ is asking about his staff. Says he has no staff, just volunteers.
— Britain Eakin (@BritainEakin) February 21, 2019
Stone is now being cross-examined by prosecutor Jonathan Kravis from the US attorney's office in DC. Kravis asks who posted the Insta post. Stone says he did, he just didn't select the image. Stone says he doesn't remember who provided him with the photo
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) February 21, 2019
So who else did Guccifer 2.0 talk to, then, if his phone is shared with half a dozen people? https://t.co/fygUc2S24B
— Michael Weiss (@michaeldweiss) February 21, 2019
Stone says it's conceivable the image was selected from his phone, which "is used by numerous people." Says he has five or six people (volunteers). ABJ is not happy.
— Britain Eakin (@BritainEakin) February 21, 2019
Judge ABJ: "But you saw it and said, okay, I'm going to post this." Stone: "I didn't really recognize the implications... it was an error your honor."
— Britain Eakin (@BritainEakin) February 21, 2019
Prosecutor Kravis: have you gone back and asked the five or six people who work for you who did it? Stone: "Nobody will admit to it."
— Britain Eakin (@BritainEakin) February 21, 2019
Jackson is incredulous that Stone can't remember who he got the photo from. Stone says he may have gotten it via text or email, or it was saved on his phone by someone else. Jackson asks how many volunteers he has. Stone says 5 or 6
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) February 21, 2019
Kravis asks if Stone may still have image on his phone. Stone says he deleted all of the images of Jackson — plural — from his phone so he didn't make the same mistake again. Jackson chimes in: "You had a choice?" Stone says yes, he chose the photo. "It was an error."
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) February 21, 2019
"The passive voice is not helpful," Judge Berman Jackson tells Stone as he answers questions about his volunteers and his social media operation.
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) February 21, 2019
STONE: "I do not exclusively use my own phone, that's what I'm saying." Suggests someone else may have used his phone to find images of Judge Berman Jackson. Said none of his volunteers would own up to selecting the images Stone chose from.
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) February 21, 2019
Guessing this will be the last time Roger's lawyers think it's a good idea to put him on the stand.
Still--he's managing to not recall and tell the truth so far, which is a big improvement for him. https://t.co/E4kXjvuOIN
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) February 21, 2019
