Court Battles

Fox News analyst: Judge in Manafort trial showing ‘extraordinary bias’ against prosecutors

Fox News judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano on Wednesday said Judge T.S. Ellis has shown “an extraordinary bias” against prosecutors in the criminal trial of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.

“I’m not happy with this judge,” Napolitano said on Fox News. “He’s making too much of the case about him and he’s showing an extraordinary bias against the government. If you feel that negatively about the government, you shouldn’t be on the case. Or you should keep those feelings to yourself, not manifest them.”

Throughout the trial, tensions have been evident between Ellis and prosecutors. On Tuesday, the judge suggested to a prosecutor that his eyes were welling with tears.

{mosads}“I understand how frustrated you are,” Ellis said to Greg Andres. “In fact, there’s tears in your eyes right now.’’

Ellis has also criticized prosecutors for presenting too much evidence related to Manafort’s spending, pointing out it isn’t a crime to spend on luxuries.

He also told attorneys last week to stop using the term “oligarch.”

“Find another term to use,” he said, suggesting they instead refer to oligarchs as “people who financed the campaign.”

Manafort is charged with bank and tax fraud in charges stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign. The criminal trial against him reached its seventh day on Wednesday.

Tags Paul Manafort Robert Mueller

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