A federal judge with deep, longstanding connections to the national
security apparatus assailed Special Counsel Robert Mueller during a
court hearing Friday, declaring that the real purpose of the anti-Russia
investigation was to generate material that would lead to Trump’s
“prosecution or impeachment.”
Federal District Judge T.S. Ellis III was hearing a motion brought by
the attorney for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, seeking
the dismissal of his indictment for bank fraud on the grounds that such
charges were outside the scope of Mueller’s investigative authority.
Defense attorney Kevin Downing argued that because the allegations
against Manafort relate to actions many years before the 2016 elections,
at a time when Manafort had no relationship with Donald Trump, Mueller
had no basis for investigation.
Ellis eagerly embraced this argument, telling prosecutor Michael
Dreeben, “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.”
-- Patrick Martin, "Judge says special counsel Mueller seeks to oust Trump" (WSWS).