Federal judge tears into Roger Stone's desperate defense of his new attack on Robert Mueller

Judge Amy Berman Jackson issued a searing court order on Tuesday denying a request from Roger Stone's attorneys to clarify her gag order on their client in light of the release of a new version of one of his books.

Jackson had issued the gag order barring Stone from speaking publicly about his case after posted a picture of the judge next to a crosshairs symbol on Instagram.  Then last week, Stone's attorneys asked Jackson to clarify the order in light of the fact that the release of a new edition of Stone's book, newly named "The Myth of Russian Collusion," was "imminent" — and a new introduction for the book directly attacks the investigation.

As Jackson noted in her filing on Tuesday, however, the claim that the book's release was "imminent" appears to be blatantly false. The book had already been released, even as Stone's attorneys filed their request. In a follow-up response, Stone's lawyers had said that the new edition had already been published, but they didn't admit that they had incorrectly said its release was imminent.

Even while refusing to clarify the gag order, Jackson made it clear she did not find the new release of the book acceptable:

In either event, there is no question that the order prohibited and continues to prohibit the defendant from making any public statements, using any medium, concerning the investigation. It does not matter when the defendant may have first formulated the opinions expressed, or when he first put them into words: he may no longer share his views on these particular subjects with the world.

She noted that Stone had many prior opportunities to inform the court about the book's release if he wished to make an exception to the gag order, but neither he nor his lawyers mentioned it at all.

Moreover, she said that Stone "waived" any constitutional objections to the gag order, and when asked during a hearing whether he is making any money based off his ability to speak about the investigation and trial, he had said no. Stone's own lawyers had even suggested potential parameters for the gag order, limiting their credibility to defend his right to speak about the ongoing case and investigation.

And in addition to apparently saying that Stone should cease distribution of the new book, which is already available online, Jackson also demanded a litany of documents and information from him by March 11, including communications about the book with his publisher, his awareness of the timeline of the book's release, and any social media posts about the book.

She did not directly address in the filing the fact that Stone had posted an image with the words "who framed Roger Stone" on Instagram, before taking it down, which could potentially be a violation of the gag order on its own.

Stone has been charged with lying to Congress, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering as a part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. In the new book introduction, he calls Mueller "crooked."

Stone's lawyer told BuzzFeed News about the new order: "We will reply in accordance with the Judge’s order. Our court filings will speak for themselves."