Mueller’s Team Asks Judge in Manafort Case to Tell Jury He Was ‘Out of Line’ for Criticizing Prosecutors

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is reportedly asking Judge T. S. Ellis, who is overseeing the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, to tell the jury he crossed the line by attacking prosecutors.

According to reports from the courtroom, Ellis has repeatedly clashed with prosecutors during the trial and refused to allow them to present some evidence.

In one case, Ellis snapped at prosecutors in front of the jury because they allowed an IRS agent to attend the trial. One prosecutor noted that the judge had granted permission for the agent to attend.

In a court filing revealed on Thursday, the Mueller team asked the judge to explain to the jury that he was wrong to criticize the prosecutor.

“Drama between Manafort prosecutors and Judge Ellis continues,” CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz reported on Twitter. “In new court filing prosecutors are fighting back after days of Judge Ellis growing increasingly angry at them. The filing specifically asks Ellis to tell the jury he was wrong when he chastised prosecutors Wednesday.”

NBC’s Pete Williams also reported that prosecutors want Ellis to “explain to the jury that he was out of line when he reprimanded them over allowing an IRS agent witness to watch other testimony,” according to NBC’s Ken Dilanian.

On Thursday, The Washington Post noted that Ellis apologized to the jury.

“I was critical of counsel for … allowing an expert to remain in the courtroom,” Ellis told the jury prior to Thursday’s testimony. “You may put that aside… I may well have been wrong.”

Read the tweets below.