The Navy Fighter Pilot Judge Who Shot Down Mueller

By The Washington Examiner. A federal judge known for his impatience in court sentenced former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on Thursday to less than four years behind bars, defying a requested prison term of 19 to 24 years by special counsel Robert Mueller.

T.S. Ellis III, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan and serves on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, called Mueller’s recommended sentence “excessive.” Instead, the former U.S. Navy aviator, who piloted an F-4 Phantom before heading to Harvard Law School and then Oxford University, handed down a 47-month sentence. . .

The 78-year-old judge, who presided over the trial in which Manafort was convicted of eight financial crimes, including bank fraud, tax fraud, and failure to disclose a foreign bank account, seemed swayed by his attorneys’ argument for a sentence “substantially below” the federal guidelines. . .

But Manafort’s attorneys had hit back at the special counsel in their own sentencing memo, claiming prosecutors were trying to “vilify Mr. Manafort as a lifelong and irredeemable felon” and “spreading misinformation about Mr. Manafort to impugn his character in a manner that this country has not experienced in decades.”

Ellis was often curt during the case. At a pre-trial hearing, he questioned why the special counsel’s office had charged Manafort with crimes unrelated to their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Ellis argued that prosecutors ultimately wanted to pressure Manafort to give them information “that would reflect on Mr. Trump or lead to his prosecution or impeachment or whatever.” (Read more from “The Navy Fighter Pilot Judge Who Shot Down Mueller” HERE)

________________________________________________

Trump says he feels ‘very badly’ for Paul Manafort, but ‘honored’ by sentencing judge

By The Washington Examiner. President Trump said Friday he felt “very badly” for Paul Manafort, but “very honored” by the federal judge who sentenced his former campaign manager to a shorter-than-expected prison sentence.

Trump told reporters at the White House that U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis’s sentencing of Manafort to 47 months in prison — far below federal sentencing guidelines — clears him of collusion allegations between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russian elements.

“I feel very badly for Paul Manafort. I think it has been a very, very tough time for him. But if you notice, both his lawyer, a highly respected man, and a very highly respected judge, the judge said there was no collusion with Russia,” Trump said.

“This had nothing to do with collusion. There was no collusion. It’s a collusion hoax, it’s a collusion witch hoax. I don’t collude with Russia,” Trump said. “[Manafort’s] lawyer went out of his way to make a statement last night, no collusion with Russia. There was absolutely none. The judge, I mean for whatever reason, I was very honored by it, also made the statement that this had nothing to do with collusion with Russia. So you know, keep it going. Keep the hoax going. It’s just a hoax.” (Read more from “Trump says he feels ‘very badly’ for Paul Manafort, but ‘honored’ by sentencing judge” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE