Manafort Hearing Jurist Slams Mueller and His Questionable Investigation

What can only be described as a federal courtroom battle occurred on Friday between the district court judge in President Donald Trump’s friend and business colleague Paul Manafort’s case and one of the attorneys working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Federal Judge T.S. Ellis stated that the special counsel shouldn’t possess what he called unfettered power to prosecute Manafort for charges that have absolutely nothing to do with the alleged but unproven anti-Hillary Clinton collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians. Among Mrs. Clinton’s multiplying excuses for losing the presidency is the proof-deficient allegation that Trump received help from the government of Russia especially President Vladimir Putin.

Manafort’s lawyers had asked the district court judge in the Virginia case to dismiss an indictment filed against the defendant by attacking Mueller’s authority.

Judge Ellis, a Ronald Reagan appointee, questioned how Manafort’s bank fraud charges are related to the politically-charged, news-media circus known as the Russia Investigation. Ellis also wondered aloud why Manafort’s case couldn’t be prosecuted by Virginia’s U.S. Attorney and his staff. He stated clearly that the Manafort case is not Russia-related.

On Saturday, the court transcript of that hearing was leaked to @Techno_Fog, the Twitter tag of a New York attorney.

According to the Twitter user, “The transcript reveals an unimpressed Ellis repeatedly pushing back against Dreeben’s attempts to tie Manafort’s bank fraud case to Russia, while an arrogant Dreeben suggests that the power vested in Ellis is dwarfed by the Special Counsel’s omnipotence.”

“I couldn’t believe what I was reading. This sounds more like a Nazi Gestapo agent than a Washington, DC swamp dweller. Here’s a typical rabid-Democrat telling a federal judge that his power is limited because a Justice Department appointee gives his friend a title, a staff and a budget to bring down a sitting president,” said Michael Baker, a former cop and lawyer.

At that point, according to the court transcript, Ellis then calls out the case as an attempt by Mueller to gain leverage over Manafort. “You really care about what information Mr. Manafort can give you that would reflect on Mr. Trump or lead to his prosecution or impeachment or whatever. That’s what you’re really interested in,” he said.

Ellis then reminded Dreeben that the Special Counsel’s indictment against Manafort doesn’t mention: Russian individuals including President Putin, Russian banks, Russian cash or Russian payments made to Manafort.

According to @techno_fog, Ellis has given prosecutors two weeks to show what evidence they have that Manafort was complicit in colluding with the Russians. If they can’t come up with any, he may, presumably, dismiss the case.

Ellis also asked the special counsel’s office to share privately with him a copy of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s August 2017 memo elaborating on the scope of Mueller’s Russia probe. He said the current version he has been heavily redacted.

An Honest Journalist’s Assessment

According to former CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson, evidence has emerged that reveals the Mueller investigation is the epitome of a witch hunt. Attkisson — who was bullied by the Obama administration and the CBS Television brass into resigning — provided a number of journalists and organizations, such as the National Association of Chiefs of Police and the American Federation of Police, with a checklist showing how a fraudulent “dirty top cop” and his band of Hillary Clinton-supporting thugs created a mountain out of a mole hill.

• Anti-Russian Ukrainians allegedly helped coordinate and execute a campaign against Trump in partnership with the Democratic National Committee and news reporters.
• A Yemen-born ex-British spy reportedly delivered political opposition research against Trump to reporters, Sen. John McCain, and the FBI; the latter of which used the material–in part–to obtain wiretaps against one or more Trump-related associates.
• There were orchestrated leaks of anti-Trump information and allegations to the press, including by ex-FBI Director James Comey.
• The U.S. intel community allegedly engaged in questionable surveillance practices and politially-motivated “unmaskings” of U.S. citizens, including Trump officials.
• Alleged conflicts of interests have surfaced regarding FBI officials who cleared Hillary Clinton for mishandling classified information and who investigated Trump’s alleged Russia ties.