Roger Stone's Plea for Social Media Comeback Fails at Appeals Court

(Bloomberg) -- Roger Stone won’t be back on social media any time soon.

A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday rejected the Republican political operative’s petition for an order lifting the all-out ban on his use of Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in July also blocked Stone’s friends and family from acting as his social-media surrogates, after finding that he’d repeatedly flouted her orders to limit his commentary to protesting his innocence and soliciting funds for his defense.

Stone, a confidante of President Donald Trump, and his family claimed Jackson’s ban violated their constitutional rights to free speech. The appeals court unanimously ruled that Stone missed a deadline for challenging the judge’s orders, and that Stone’s family members were still free to use social media -- just not as his proxies.

Stone, 67, is charged with lying to a Congressional panel about his communication with WikiLeaks while it was investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, obstructing their probe, and witness tampering. He denies wrongdoing. His trial is set to start on Nov. 5.

Read More: No More Social Media for You, Irked Judge Tells Roger Stone

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