Posted on 05/04/2018 9:00:17 AM PDT by Red Badger
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday sharply criticized Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s criminal case in Virginia against President Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and openly questioned whether Mueller exceeded his prosecutorial powers by bringing it.
“I don’t see what relationship this indictment has with anything the special counsel is authorized to investigate,” U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis in the Eastern District of Virginia said.
At tense hearing at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, the judge said Mueller should not have “unfettered power” in his Russia probe and that the charges against Manafort did not arise from the investigation into Moscow’s alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.
Manafort is facing charges in both Virginia and Washington. The Virginia case charges him with offenses including tax and bank fraud. The other case accuses him of conspiring to launder money and failing to register as a foreign agent when he lobbied for the pro-Russia Ukrainian government.
None of the charges relate, however, to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign or possible collusion with Russia. Trump has denied any collusion.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
I hope he gets it, but good luck. The whole country should get to see it.
See post #15
Ok.............
Big, big news.
Ellis said prosecutors were interested in Manafort because of his potential to provide material that would lead to Trump’s “prosecution or impeachment,” Ellis said.
“That’s what you’re really interested in,” said Ellis, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan.
This make me sick to my stomach.
I wonder what his placement was out of law school?......................
If a single judge can shut down Trump’s immigration orders or restart DACA, then a single judge can shut down the special counsel, right?
another goodie in the CNN report
When Dreeben answered Ellis’ question about how the investigation and its charges date back to before the Trump campaign formed, the judge shot back, “None of that information has to do with information related to Russian government coordination and the campaign of Donald Trump.”
At one point, Ellis posed a hypothetical question, speaking as if he were the prosecutor, about why Mueller’s office referred a criminal investigation about Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen to New York authorities and kept the Manafort case in Virginia.
They weren’t interested in it because it didn’t “further our core effort to get Trump,” Ellis said, mimicking a prosecutor in the case.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/04/politics/paul-manafort-hearing/index.html
“without showing Manafort its additional details”
As soon as the judge sees it, and the prosecution already has it...the DEFENSE must also get a copy as it is now EVIDENCE.
By law.
All a judge can do is dismiss the charges.............
When I hear common sense like this I'm surprised, that's how bad this Justice system has become.
OMG......am I in the Way Back Machine?
A judge who knows we got laws.
Man, alive.
I hope the judge looks into the legality of Mueller’s status.
Mueller was a private citizen at the time of his appointment and DOJ regulations purport to bestow on him all of the powers of a US Attorney to investigate, indict, prosecute and imprison people, but Mueller’s appointment did not satisfy the statutory requirement applicable to a US Attorney requiring that someone given such awesome power be confirmed by the US Senate.
That’s called discovery, I believe. If he won’t give it to Congress, he surely won;t give it to a judge. Case is DOA! That’s what happens when you’re a crook and go into a real court!
What crime was initially reported that even allowed for a special prosecutor??
Rosenstein will need to be impeached if he does not turn over the scope memo. Not just to Congress, but to the public. Trump needs to declassify , unredact and give rosenstein an ultimatum - release ro the public or walk out the door.
Bless this judge—and I mean that most reverently. He is an island of sanity in a sea of Trump-haters.
None....................
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.