http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/08/17/judge-in-manafort-trial-says-hes-been-threatened-over-case.html
The judge in ex-Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s fraud trial revealed Friday he has received threats over the case and now travels with U.S. Marshals, as he turned back a media request to release juror information.
U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III, in rejecting the motion, argued that he’s confident the jurors would be threatened as well if their information were to be made public.
“I can tell you there have been [threats]. … I don’t feel right if I release their names,” he said, adding that because of threats against him, “The Marshals go where I go.”
The startling revelation came as the jury deliberated for its second day.
Ellis, a famously prickly judge known for his colorful comments, has attracted considerable attention during the Manafort trial for his frequent sparring with the attorneys – particularly those on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team.
Earlier Friday morning, Ellis acknowledged facing pushback about how he’s handled this case. He told attorneys “I’m no stranger to criticism,” but said “this case has brought it to a new level.”
The juror motion itself was filed by multiple news organizations – the Washington Post, New York Times, AP, CNN, NBC, Politico and BuzzFeed. They sought to unseal records in the case, including information about the jurors.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/08/manafort-trial-mueller-gates-ellis-768715
Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort.
But it has been surprisingly hard going at times, and as they prepare to rest their case by the week’s end, they bear battle wounds that Manafort’s lawyers are sure to exploit as they mount their defense.
Even as Mueller’s team methodically piled up evidence of Manafort’s alleged tax and bank fraud, jurors have seen the special counsel’s case hit some potholes.
Most notably, Manafort’s attorneys have painted the prosecution’s star witness, Rick Gates, as a serial liar, embezzler and philanderer who — as a defense lawyer asserted in court on Wednesday — engaged in four extramarital affairs.
Several other setbacks have come courtesy of the cantankerous presiding federal judge, T.S. Ellis III.
The 78-year-old Ronald Reagan appointee has repeatedly tweaked Mueller’s team, on everything from the logic of their assertions to a prosecutor’s informality in answering a question with a “yeah” instead of “yes.” He has hurried along their case and blocked them from introducing some evidence of Manafort’s lavish lifestyle.
Taken on their own, the individual rebukes are relatively minor. But some legal experts say that, cumulatively, they could plant doubt in the mind of jurors about the strength of the prosecution’s case. Renato Mariotti, a prominent former federal prosecutor, tweeted Wednesday that Ellis has made “improper statements that have hurt the prosecution.”
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“[T]he judge’s condescending attitude [could give] the jury the impression that the prosecution’s case is dubious,” added Philip Lacovara, a former U.S. deputy solicitor general. “This is an especially severe risk when the core of the case is the testimony of a co-conspirator who is admittedly a thief, liar, and embezzler. When the standard of proof is ‘beyond a reasonable doubt,’ there is no margin for error.”
Mueller’s team even filed a formal written protest on Thursday about the judge’s behavior, complaining that prosecutors were being unfairly called out in front of the jury.
The jury and not Ellis will decide Manafort’s fate. But the rulings and commentary of a seasoned judge are sure to have influence over jurors.
In what must have been a particularly unwelcome exchange for Mueller’s team, Ellis on Tuesday tweaked Gates, who admitted to embezzling expense money while working for Manafort.