A US federal judge is considering imposing a gag order in the Roger Stone's case, according to reports. Mr Stone, Donald Trump's former political adviser, was indicted last month in connection with Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.
Roger Stone made a string of media appearances and interviews since his arrest last week, in which he repeatedly denied any accusations of conspiracy against the Democratic party during the 2016 campaign.
US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is handling his case, compared his revelations to the media to a "book tour". She said during a hearing on Friday that she is considering a gag order on both parties, citing a number of "extrajudicial statements by the defendant".
"This is a criminal proceeding and not a public relations campaign," Jackson said, as quoted by AP, adding that "it behooves counsel and the parties to do their talking in this courtroom and in their pleadings and not on the courthouse steps or on the talk show circuit."
Roger Stone was arrested on 25 January on federal charges put forward by Special Counsel Mueller, who is investigating the Trump campaign's alleged ties with Russia. The charges include seven criminal counts connected with witness tampering, lying to Congress, and the obstruction of justice.
READ MORE: Roger Stone Says He Never Discussed WikiLeaks Releases With Trump
He is suspected of lying about his contacts with Julian Assange and about speaking with Trump about pending WikiLeaks dumps that might damage election opponent Hillary Clinton. US intelligence officials claim the emails were stolen during Russian cyber-attacks on Clinton and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) servers. Moscow has repeatedly denied the allegations.
The indictment also states that an unnamed senior Trump campaign official was ordered to get in touch with Stone "about any additional releases and what other damaging information" WikiLeaks had on Hillary Clinton's campaign.
The lobbyist pleaded not guilty to all charges and promised to go to court if needed to prove his innocence. He also vowed to "tell the truth" throughout the process.
Stone told reporters this week that he had been accused of "after-the-fact process crimes."
"I am not accused of Russian collusion, I am not accused of collaboration with WikiLeaks, I am not accused of conspiracy," he said. "There is no evidence or accusation that I knew in advance about the source or the content of the WikiLeaks material."
Donald Trump, in turn, insists that he has not spoken with Stone about the WikiLeaks publications and describes the Russiagate narrative as a "witch hunt".
