Roger Stone, a longtime confidant of President Donald Trump, accompanied by his wife Nydia Stone, left, arrived at federal court in Washington, on Tuesday. (Sait Serkan Gurbuz/AP)A federal judge on Tuesday barred Roger Stone from all communications through Instagram, Twitter and Facebook until after his trial, rebuking the longtime Republican operative for resorting to “middle-school” behavior online that could prejudice future jurors. For the close confidant of President Trump, social media platforms have been a mainstay as he contests — and disparages — his prosecution on charges of lying to Congress and witness tampering brought by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Above all, Rogow said, Stone’s social media following was minimal. “None of these things are the kind of thing that have any reasonable basis for affecting a fair trial,” Rogow said.

Source: Washington Post July 16, 2019 17:16 UTC