Roger's volunteers

Questioned in court last week about his recent Instagram post featuring a photo of the judge presiding over his case with what resembled a crosshairs symbol, Roger Stone said under oath that a "volunteer" found the image. He insisted he couldn't recall who exactly, though, and struggled to identify the five or six people he said were serving as his volunteers at the time.

The names he offered after being pressed by the prosecutor underscored Stone's ties to the Proud Boys, a far-right, men-only extremist group that describes its members as "Western chauvinist." The four men identified by Stone are all active on social media, and several continued to post about Stone's case after US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson imposed a strict gag order Thursday — an order that limits not only what Stone can say in public and online, but what his surrogates and volunteers can say on his behalf.

Stone identified Enrique Tarrio, Tyler Whyte, Jacob Engels, and Rey Perez as his volunteers. Tarrio is chairman of the Proud Boys and last week sat behind President Donald Trump during a speech in Miami wearing a t-shirt that said, "Roger Stone Did Nothing Wrong!" Whyte leads a Proud Boys chapter in Florida. Engels has been involved in Proud Boys activities, but says he's a journalist embedded with the group, not a member. Perez identified himself on Facebook as a member of the Proud Boys and was at Stone's house in Florida to tape a podcast over cigars and baked ziti just before before the Instagram post imbroglio.

On Friday, the day after Stone's new gag order took effect, Perez tweeted, "As much as the liberal media want to spin #RogerStoneArrested into evidence of #RussianCollusion , it only shows our innocence and their evil deeds, what a bunch of sore losers." Engels tweeted a hashtag that Stone and his supporters have been using since his arrest: "#RogerStoneDidNothingWrong."

A Twitter account linked to Tarrio's name on the Proud Boys's website retweeted a post from the user @CarpeDonktum Thursday night that said, "ROGER STONE DID NOTHING WRONG. SUPPORTING TRUMP IS NOT A CRIME. THE LEFT WANTS US DEAD. THE LEFT WANTS US IN PRISON. THE LEFT WANTS US SILENT."

Jackson's order isn’t a blanket prohibition on anyone posting comments about Stone's case, but it says that Stone can't indirectly comment "by having statements made publicly on his behalf." To the extent his known associates — people he told the judge were doing work for him — continue to go on the attack, it could raise questions about compliance with Jackson's order, even if Stone himself isn't talking.