Roger Stone posts – then deletes – threatening photo of federal judge next to crosshairs

Trump's longtime confidant Roger Stone on Monday attacked the federal judge presiding over his criminal case in the special counsel's Russia probe.

In an Instagram post, Stone lashed out at U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson.

"Through legal trickery Deep State hitman Robert Mueller has guaranteed that my upcoming show trial is before Judge Amy Berman Jackson , an Obama appointed Judge who dismissed the Benghazi charges again Hillary Clinton [sic] and incarcerated Paul Manafort prior to his conviction for any crime," he wrote. Stone then asked for donations.

The Guardian's Jon Swaine noted that the picture Stone posted on Instagram placed crosshairs next to Jackson's head.

Last week, Jackson prohibited Stone from commenting on the case near the Washington, D.C., courthouse. But he remains otherwise free to discuss his situation. However, Jackson has warned that she could amend the limited gag order in the future if necessary.

"This is completely out of bounds. The cross hairs will likely lead prosecutors to ask for revocation of his pre-trial release. At best, this is a cheap stunt designed to get the judge to recuse, at worst, an outright threat," former U.S. attorney Joyce Vance said.

Stone later deleted the photo, and re-posted it on Instagram after cropping the crosshairs out of the image. He then deleted that photo as well.

(Note: This article was updated after Roger Stone deleted his original Instagram post.)