Judge in Manafort case says Mueller's aim is to hurt Trump

CNN ^ | 05-04-2018 | By Katelyn Polantz and Jessica Schneider

[Cboldt]

-- 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? --

Mueller is free to bring charges in NY if he wants. Mueller let go of the Cohen case because it was out of his subject matter jurisdiction. If the Cohen case is out of his subject matter jurisdiction, then why isn't a 2005 tax case out of his subject matter jurisdiction?

[JoSixChip]

Judge Ellis asked him if Rosenbutt has recused since he is “a witness”.

I've read a couple of articles on this and did not see that. Please provide a link if you have it. That in and of itself is pretty big.

[Brian Griffin]

“(8)(A) The term ‘‘contribution’’ includes—
(i) any gift, subscription, loan, advance, or
deposit of money or anything of value made by
any person for the purpose of influencing any
election for Federal office; or”

“Except as provided in section 30109(a)(8) of this
title, the power of the Commission to initiate
civil actions under subsection (a)(6) shall be the
exclusive civil remedy for the enforcement of
the provisions of this Act.”

https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2014-title52/pdf/USCODE-2014-title52-subtitleIII.pdf

Mueller and all of the DoJ have no authority to prosecute campaign law violations apparently.

[\/\/ayne]

He should file a complaint to have Michael Dreeben disbarred.

[Brian Griffin]

“Mueller and all of the DoJ have no authority to prosecute campaign law violations apparently.”

Except by referral:

“Whenever the Commission refers an apparent
violation to the Attorney General, the Attorney
General shall report to the Commission any action
taken by the Attorney General regarding
the apparent violation. Each report shall be
transmitted within 60 days after the date the
Commission refers an apparent violation, and
every 30 days thereafter until the final disposition
of the apparent violation.”

“(d) Penalties; defenses; mitigation of offenses
(1)(A) Any person who knowingly and willfully
commits a violation of any provision of this Act
which involves the making, receiving, or reporting
of any contribution, donation, or expenditure—
(i) aggregating $25,000 or more during a calendar
year shall be fined under title 18, or imprisoned
for not more than 5 years, or both;”

[Alberta's Child]

Good point. Here's what I would suggest.

1. There is no 2005 tax case here. The statute of limitations for such a charge has long since expired.

2. Manafort has made a career out of peddling influence in Washington to foreign governments. I think you'd have a hard time finding a Federal investigation involving Manafort that did NOT come under Mueller's jurisdiction.

[Nifster]

I hope this judge kicks the crap out of these yobs

[Red Badger]

He should declare the defendants not guilty and end the charade...............

[Nifster]

Stopping a car ain’t hard. Stopping this coup is a different matter

[Brian Griffin]

For the curious (via Wikipedia on Paul Manafort):

United States of America v. Paul J. Manafort, Jr. and Richard W. Gates III, case no. 17-cr-00201, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (October 27, 2017)

https://www.justice.gov/file/1007271/download

I haven’t the time to read it now.

[Nifster]

😂😂😂 We can hope

[Brian Griffin]

“Cohen being prosecuted by the State of NY”

I thought the Stormy Daniels payment went to a Beverly Hills attorney.

[Mouton]

Someone said the plan will be to dismiss the matter upon request by the prosecution so they can re introduce it later before a different judge. If they do that, I hope the judge sees it for what it is and dismisses it with prejudice.

[Cboldt]

-- I think you'd have a hard time finding a Federal investigation involving Manafort that did NOT come under Mueller's jurisdiction. --

That depends on how one construes Mueller's subject matter jurisdiction. Ellis seems to be of a mind that if it isn't Trump campaign related (what Sessions recused from), then it's not in Mueller's subject matter scope.

[Lent]

'Stopping a car ain’t hard. Stopping this coup is a different matter' 🤣

[lewislynn]

Thank god it wasn't that FAUX judge Napalitano on FAUX news.

What an ignorant deep state apologist douche that dim-wit is...

[Behind the Blue Wall]

Amazing, there’s an honest judge left in our judiciary!

[Jagermonster]

Amazing, there’s an honest judge left in our judiciary!

There are a lot of honest federal judges left in our judiciary - I'm inclined to say most of them are, in fact.

Here, Judge Ellis seems to be particularly put out by having his docket clogged up with political nonsense. Very few judges take kindly to that.

[realcleanguy]

This isn’t rocket science. They seek to destroy him politically, socially and economically forever. And Manafort was the money person for funding for the GOP. destroying him is a way to destroy the Republican Party’s ability to get financing and campaign funds. This is much more than a “Fake Collusion” investigation.

[Buckeye McFrog]

I’d like to think that at least a FEW judges are still concerned about the integrity of the law and it’s ethical application.