Roger Stone Apologizes for 'Improper' Photo of Judge

Roger Stone issued a formal apology in a court filing Monday after posting an "improper photo" of a federal judge on Instagram. The longtime friend of President Trump posted, then deleted a photo of the judge overseeing the case against him earlier Monday with what appeared to be crosshairs near her head, CNBC reports. "Through legal trickery Deep State hitman Robert Mueller has guaranteed that my upcoming show trial is before Judge Amy Berman Jackson," Stone wrote on Instagram, describing Jackson as an "Obama appointed Judge who dismissed the Benghazi charges" against Hillary Clinton.

"I had no intention of disrespecting the court and humbly apologize to the court for this transgression," Stone, who was indicted last month as part of Mueller's investigation, said in the court filing. He tells the Washington Post that the photo was posted by a "volunteer" who assists him with his social media accounts. In another Instagram post Monday, Stone said the image was "a random photo taken from the Internet" that been "misinterpreted." Saying there had been a "fake news tsunami," he later shared a story claiming the symbol in the photo was a "neo-pagan symbol," not crosshairs. (Jackson imposed a partial gag order on Stone last week.)