BREAKING! Federal Judge Just Accused Mueller’s Team of ‘Lying’ – This Is Not Good!
Please Subscribe: https://goo.gl/DodZjS
Source: https://goo.gl/5nTqtJ
Almost since the day Special Counsel Robert Mueller was appointed, it has been pointed out repeatedly by that his almost single-minded objected have been to employ a scorched earth strategy to get President Donald Trump by literally throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks.
Paul Manafort was simply going to be collateral damage to that agenda. Except, Manafort was not going down quietly, and today his attorneys quietly filed a motion to dismiss. Like most motions to dismiss, Manafort’s was initially viewed as a long-shot bid to win the political operative his freedom and get out from under the Mueller’s thumb. Yet after the surprise turn of events in today’s hearing on a motion to dismiss filed by Manafort’s lawyers, it is increasingly apparent that Manafort may escape charges of any sort and freedom may once again be his due to U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III.
Eastern District of Virginia Judge T.S. Ellis, a Reagan appointee, issued a harshly worded rebuke for Mueller and his team citing Mueller’s “overreach” suggesting they lied about the scope of the investigation, and are more interested in seeking “unfettered power” in an effort to bring down a rightfully elected president, than in any level of “justice.”
Judge Ellis told Mueller’s team. – “You don’t really care about Mr. Manafort. You really care about what information Mr. Manafort can give you to lead you to Mr. Trump and an impeachment, or whatever.”
The Judgment on to conclude that the additional charges brought against Manafort did not appear to stem from Mueller’s collusion probe. Instead, they appeared to be the work of an older investigation into Manafort that was eventually dropped.
“I don’t see how this indictment has anything to do with anything the special prosecutor is authorized to investigate,” Ellis said at a hearing in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, concerning a motion by Manafort to dismiss the case.
Oh, but Judge Ellis was just getting warmed up! It got better! Judge Ellis continued also slamming prosecutors saying it appeared as though they were using the indictment of Manafort in an effort use it as leverage to pressure him to cooperate against President Trump. Manafort has pleaded not guilty, continuing to maintain his innocence. He disputes Mueller’s assertion that he violated U.S. laws when he worked for a decade as a political consultant for pro-Russian groups in Ukraine.
Judge Ellis stated to the Mueller team – “You don’t really care about Mr. Manafort’s bank fraud. You really care about what information he might give you about Mr. Trump and what might lead to his impeachment or prosecution.”
According to Bloomberg, Ellis is overseeing one of two indictments against Manafort. Manafort is also charged in Washington with money laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent of Ukraine.
According to Zero Hedge: “The judge also questioned why Manafort’s case there could not be handled by the U.S. attorney’s office in Virginia, rather than the special counsel’s office, as it is not Russia-related. A question many others have asked, as well.
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 Rosentein’s August 2017 memo elaborating on the scope of Mueller’s Russia probe. He said the current version he has been heavily redacted.
At that point, should nothing change materially, Manafort may be a free man; needless to say, a dismissal would set precedent and be nothing short of groundbreaking by potentially making it much harder for Mueller to turn other witnesses against the president.
Judge Ellis’s attitude has made quite the change from a man that earlier this year suggested that Manafort could face life in prison, and “poses a substantial flight risk” because of his “financial means and international connections to flee and remain at large.