Legal experts are stunned as Roger Stone files a mortifying apology with the court after his attack on a judge

Roger Stone filed a formal apology to Judge Amy Berman Jackson Monday for posting a picture on Instagram in the afternoon that showed her face next to crosshairs.

After the post was initially criticized, he reposted the image with the crosshairs cropped out and with toned-down language. He later removed the second version of the image as well. He told reporters than any inference that the photo was meant to be threatening was "false," and many noted that Stone himself had not taken the original image but apparently found it on a conspiracy website.

In his apology, Stone wrote:

Please inform the Court that the photograph and comment today was improper and should not have been posted. I had no intention of disrespecting the Court and humbly apologize to the Court for the transgression.

"I've never seen a 'notice of apology' filed before," said former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti.

"I've been doing federal criminal law for 24 years and I've never seen anything like this," agreed Ken White, a defense attorney and legal analyst. "This is not normal."