A federal judge’s rebuke in a courtroom showdown may have brought Robert Mueller’s prosecutors to tears.
U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III pressed the prosecutors after dismissing jurors in the Paul Manafort trial on Monday, getting into a nearly 10-minute debate over the length of the case, its merits and even prosecutor Greg Andres not making eye contact, Fox News reported.
After former Manafort business partner, Rick Gates, took the witness stand Monday in the bank fraud and tax evasion case, Ellis was frustrated and leveled questions at Mueller’s team. AT one point, he apparently felt disrespected by Andres who looked down instead of directly at the judge.
“Look at me! Don’t look down,” Ellis demanded.
Andres attempted to clarify that he was looking at a document but Ellis was not buying his excuse.
“You looked down as if to say ‘that’s B.S.!’” the judge said. “I’m up here!”
Judge Ellis goes on about the clients and Manafort. He then gets irritated at the Special Counsel looking down.
Judge: “When you look down, it’s as if to say, you know, that’s BS.”
The Special Counsel can’t look the judge in the eye. pic.twitter.com/75b6CH0zAc
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) August 7, 2018
Ellis also pressed the prosecutors on why they were moving so slowly with Gates while also constantly linking him t wealthy Ukrainians.
“What matters are the allegations that he made money from them and didn’t report it,” Ellis said. “You don’t need to throw mud at these people.”
“I don’t know if they are bad or good. And I don’t care,” he added.
“I don’t know why you keep singin out these individuals,” Andres replied about the Ukrainians. “These people are not like any Americans. These people are oligarchs and that means they control a segment of the economy based on the governments allowing them to do that.”’
Gates continues discussing Manafort’s work in Ukraine. Then he and the jury are excused until tomorrow.
Judge then takes Govt to task for poisoning the jury’s perception of Manafort’s clients. Here the Govt tries to explain re: Oligarchs. pic.twitter.com/YU9o9YXA1Q
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) August 7, 2018
“These are not really political contributions,” he said. “They are self-serving payments with respect to what oligarchs do.”
“That makes it even clearer to me that it doesn’t have anything to do with the allegations in this case,” the judge fired back. “It throws dirt on these people. They may deserve it. I don’t know – and I don’t care.”
The Judge rightfully explains that whether Manafort’s clients were shady has no bearing on whether he committed tax fraud.
He’s going to cut the Govt off from too much discussion of Manafort’s clients. pic.twitter.com/hXH1HsdiiB
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) August 7, 2018
Court transcripts from Monday’s exchange were released showing how heated things got.
This is hilarious….
Judge: Look at me when you’re talking to me
Govt: I’m sorry Judge, I was
Judge: No you weren’t. You were looking down.
Govt: “Because I don’t want to get in trouble for some facial expression. I don’t want to get yelled at again..” pic.twitter.com/vMVPRRrjnv
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) August 7, 2018
Did Judge Ellis make the Special Counsel lawyer cry???
Judge: “There’s tears in your eyes right now.”
Govt: “There are not tears in my eyes, Judge.”
Judge: “Well, they’re watery.” pic.twitter.com/gXCIEqjgUC
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) August 7, 2018
Ellis, the 78-year-old Reagan-appointee, has been overseeing the case against Manafort who faces tax evasion and bank fraud charges.
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Frieda@bizpacreview.com
Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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