Roger Stone has been ordered to appear in a D.C. courtroom on Thursday to explain an Instagram photo of the judge overseeing his case next to what appear to be crosshairs - in what many interpreted as a veiled threat.

The photo of Jackson is accompanied by a caption which reads: "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 [sic] Hillary Clinton and incarcerated Paul Manafort prior to his conviction for any crime."

Jackson dismissed legal action against Clinton by the parents of two of the four Americans killed in the 2012 Benghazi attack, as well as a related claim that Clinton had defamed the parents by lying about them in the press.

Stone, who was arrested in a January pre-dawn raid at his Florida home in connection with Robert Mueller's Russia probe, is at risk of losing his bail just days after U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson issued a gag order preventing Stone from saying anything that might bias potential jurors. He was charged with lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstructing the Russia investigation.

NEW: Judge Amy Berman Jackson has scheduled a "show cause" hearing in the Roger Stone case after his Instagram post yesterday.



She says she wants to see if his post violated the gag order and / or his conditions of his release which could be modified or revoked. — Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) February 19, 2019

The longtime Trump adviser issued an apology for the post, writing "Please inform the court that the photograph and comment today was improper and should not have been posted."

Stone also posted on Instagram: "A photo of Judge Jackson posted on my Instagram has been misinterpreted," adding "This was a random photo taken from the internet. Any inference that this was meant to somehow threaten the judge or disrespect court is categorically false."

He will have to explain on Thursday how his post did not violate his gag order.