After days of being dressed down by the judge overseeing the Paul Manafort case, on Thursday federal prosecutors sought to put their foot down — filing a motion complaining that Judge T.S. Ellis III had unfairly admonished them in front of the jury, Fox News informed.
Ellis has memorably and repeatedly criticized Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team during the trial for the former Trump campaign chairman. On Wednesday, Ellis ripped into prosecutors for letting a witness, IRS Agent Michael Welsh, sit in the courtroom before his testimony.
But in a five-page motion filed Thursday, Mueller deputy Andrew Weissmann and other attorneys on the team claimed Ellis had actually granted permission earlier in the trial for the witness to remain in the room during proceedings.
“The court’s reprimand of government counsel suggested to the jury—incorrectly—that the government had acted improperly and in contravention of court rules,” the prosecutors wrote. “This prejudice should be cured.”
Ellis responded by expressing regret in court Thursday.
“This robe doesn’t make me anything other than human,” Ellis said.
Referencing his earlier reprimand, Ellis said Thursday: “Any criticism of counsel should be put aside.”
The truce between the judge and prosecutors, though, did not last long.
Hours later, when prosecutors tried to introduce an exhibit that was dozens of pages long, Ellis interjected: “There might be some kind soul on the jury who thinks they need to leaf through all this stuff — and it isn’t true.”
The Mueller team relented and only entered 11 pages into evidence.
Ellis has a reputation for making colorful comments – and being tough on the prosecution.
On Wednesday, Ellis explained that he would not ask the defense to reveal as much information as he has demanded from the prosecution because “it’s sort of like poker — you don’t have to show your hand until you’re called.”
“Something like that, I’m not a poker player,” Ellis said.
Earlier this week, the prosecution’s star witness, Rick Gates – who struck a plea deal to cooperate with the government — testified that he and Manafort committed bank and tax fraud together.
On Thursday, prosecutors attempted to prove Manafort committed bank fraud by calling witnesses to describe a rental property he owned.
But prosecutors say that property was listed on papers as a second home, and not as a rental property, something that would impact whether or not a bank would have agreed to loan him more than $5 million.
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