That was my first thought.
The way he had been moving this thing along, it seemed like he wouldn't take any long breaks unless he had to. Based on what's happened in the last few days, I think Mueller is trying to get Ellis removed.
I don't know how easy that is during the middle of a trial, but Mueller will do anything if he think's he's losing.
These guys always like to have the deck stacked in their favor, and when a judge like Ellis comes along, I think they would do anything to get him removed.
This has been a strange trial. Usually white collar crime cases are very lengthy, with forensic analysts testifying on both sides and volumes of financial records introduced. So far it’s been mostly just testimony with little reference to smoking gun documents.
Anything
A threat to the judge would not be out of character for these prosecutors.