Posted on 05/04/2018 10:48:56 AM PDT by Red Badger
A federal judge expressed deep skepticism Friday in the bank fraud case brought by special counsel Robert Mueller's office against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, at one point saying he believes that Mueller's motivation is to oust President Donald Trump from office. Although Mueller's authority has been tested in court before, Friday's hearing was notable for District Judge T.S. Ellis' decision to wade into the divisive political debate around the investigation. "You don't really care about Mr. Manafort's bank fraud," Ellis said to prosecutor Michael Dreeben, at times losing his temper. 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.
Ellis repeated his suspicion several times in the hour-long court hearing. He said he'll make a decision at a later date about whether Manafort's case can go forward. "We don't want anyone in this country with unfettered power. It's unlikely you're going to persuade me the special prosecutor has power to do anything he or she wants," Ellis told Dreeben. "The American people feel pretty strongly that no one has unfettered power." 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Finally someone states the obvious!
Finally, some judges are bold enough to start calling Mueller out in a public way. No one is beyond reproach. Make Mueller prove that he needs all this inquiry.
The answer seems so obvious and innocuous to me, I'm wondering why the judge asked it in the first place. Cohen lives in New York. Manafort lives in Virginia. Am I missing something here?
Hey, how about a federal judge telling the executive branch it has to stop doing this investigation? Seems to work on immigration.
Yep. And water is wet.
I love these @ss-hats at CNN being quick to point out who appointed the Judge and then state the Judge involved himself in the political debate but when Democrat appointees ignore the Constitution and obstruct POTUS’ agenda the judge is all righteous.
Cohen being prosecuted by the State of NY, Manafort by the Feds, possibly.
Time to stop this coupe, one way or another.
Reagan appointee.
Possibly ... but I’m pretty sure it was the FBI who raided Cohen’s office, not a police agency in NY.
Let the air out of the tires
I believe Cohen is being prosecuted by the DOJ U.S. Attorney’s office in New York...not the State of New York itself. That’s the reason for a federal judge being appointed...Bill Clinton’s would-be Attorney General, Kimba Wood.
Good point, don’t know.
May is the cruelest month for Mueller.
LOL.
“A loan from a person or committee to a candidate or political committee is a contribution to the extent that it remains unpaid. Once repaid in full, a loan no longer counts against the contributor’s contribution limit.”
“When an individual uses personal funds (or personal credit) to pay for a campaign expense, that payment is generally an in-kind contribution from that individual.”
“Special reporting rules apply to loans, debts and advances.”
“When an individual uses personal funds (or personal credit) to pay for a campaign expense, that payment is generally an in-kind contribution from that individual.”
“Although such expenses are considered in-kind contributions until reimbursed, special reporting rules apply when individuals pay for campaign expenses and later receive reimbursement.”
“The reader is encouraged also to consult the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.), Commission regulations (Title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations), Commission advisory opinions and applicable court decisions.”
https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/handling-loans-debts-and-advances/
“Committees and their treasurers must make best efforts to obtain and maintain (and ultimately report) the information required by law with respect to itemized receipts and disbursements.”
“An individual who tests the waters must keep financial records. If he or she later becomes a candidate, the money raised and spent to test the waters must be reported by the campaign as contributions and expenditures.”
“If reporting information is incomplete, the committee and the treasurer will be in compliance with the law if they can demonstrate that they used “best efforts” in trying to obtain, maintain and report the needed information. The criteria for making “best efforts” vary, depending on the type of transaction.”
https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/keeping-records/
“The Plain Writing Act of 2010 requires federal agencies to write ‘clear government communication that the public can understand and use.’”
https://www.fec.gov/about/plain-language/
A federal judge has to do the job Sessions refuses to do.
Mule face is in big trouble. Judge Ellis asked him if Rosenbutt has recused since he is “a witness”. That is an express violation of ethics of ANY bar association. But the Judge was explicit that Mule face has NO JURISDICTION under the “Russian Collusion” mandate for his investigation. This is so great!! While he deferred his ruling HE IS GOING TO DISMISS THE CASE AGAINST MANAFORT!! Mule face is beyond his scope!!!
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