Roger Stone called the gag order likely to be placed on his longtime ally and friend Donald Trump "unconstitutional" and said it could constitute election interference.
"It would clearly be election interference since he is a candidate for the Republican nomination for President," Stone told the Floridian Press in an exclusive interview.
Stone's comments were made immediately before The Daily Mail posted an exclusive with quotes from Trump's attorneys saying they expect the forty-fifth President to have a gag order imposed on him Monday. President Trump was indicted last week in New York on charges that have yet to be revealed and is expected to be arraigned on Tuesday. Stone says he thinks the order will be similar to the one placed on him in 2019.
"I was gagged for sixteen months. I couldn't defend myself despite relentless insistence by the mainstream media that I was involved in Russian collusion or WikiLeaks collaboration," said Stone. "My great concern now is the judge in New York will now issue a gag order on Donald Trump and potentially members of his family so they cannot comment on any aspect of the trial or the case.
WATCH! @RogerJStoneJr says a gag order could be placed on President Trump AND HIS FAMILY that would prevent him from discussing the case against him and even more!
Stone compares it to the order placed on him in 2019. pic.twitter.com/3WWPKkz80b
— Chris Nelson 🇺🇸 🏝 (@ReOpenChris) April 2, 2023
Stone says the gag order placed on him also applied to family members and supporters.
"The gag order also extended to my wife, all the members of my family and 'supporters acting at my direction'," Stone said of the gag order placed on him by Judge Amy Berman Jackson in 2019 in relation to charges from the Robert Mueller probe into Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election. Stone and many of his supporters were subsequently banned from major social media platforms.
Stone says the gag order interfered with his ability to raise funds to fight his case.
"The gag was designed to make fundraising for my legal defense much more difficult," said Stone. "In my case the judge left the gag order in place even after I was convicted. I would've been gagged on the day I was sent to prison if I hadn't been pardoned." In December, 2020, Trump unconditionally pardoned Stone on December 23, 2020, sparing him a 40-month prison sentence after he was convicted of the process-crime of lying to Congress, which Stone said he believes was politically motivated.
Stone added that although the order was "clearly unconstitutional", his appeal was tied up in court while the order stood.
"For sixteen months it sat there and they made no decision. Then a week before I went to trial the appeals court rejected my appeal saying you have to ask the trial court judge who placed the gag order on you to remove it first," said Stone. "She never of course would have done that. That is how they run out the clock and I fear that is what they will try to do to Donald Trump."
Stone says Trump's ability to post on social media and comment will depend on how broad the gag order is.
"In my case I was not allowed to publicly comment on anything. So if I went to a place and had a terrific hamburger and wanted to take a picture of it and put it online the judge would have been able to throw me in jail," said Stone, who pointed out everything known so far about the Trump case is based on leaks.
"CNN says there's thirty-four counts. How can they possibly know that unless they are the recipient of an illegal leak?" asked Stone. "This is today's America."
