Federal judge claims special counsel wants Manafort to ‘sing’ about Trump

A federal judge in Virginia on Friday accused the office of special counsel Robert Mueller of pursuing a fraud case against President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager to pressure him to “sing” and provide evidence against the president.

The comments from Judge T.S. Ellis III came during a hearing in Alexandria federal court, where attorneys for Paul Manafort argued that bank- and tax-fraud charges against him are outside the scope of the special counsel’s authority.

“You don’t really care about Mr. Manafort’s bank fraud,” Ellis told prosecutors. “You really care about getting information Mr. Manafort can give you that would reflect on Mr. Trump and lead to his prosecution or impeachment.”

Ellis said the government wanted Manafort, “the vernacular is, to sing.”

Manafort, 69, is accused in federal court in Alexandria and the District of Columbia of crimes related to his work for a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine. Manafort served as Trump’s campaign chief for five months before resigning amid reports he had received secret cash payments for his Ukraine consulting.

Michael Dreeben, a prosecutor with the special counsel’s office, did not respond specifically to the judge’s assertions. But he said the investigation fit naturally into a probe of Trump campaign ties to Russia:

Manafort’s attorneys contend their client’s alleged crimes in Virginia have nothing to do with the election or with Trump.

Ellis agreed but said that even without such a connection, the special counsel might well have the authority to bring the charges.

“I’m not saying it’s illegitimate,” Ellis said.

Ellis suggested that if he ruled in Manafort’s favor, the case could be returned to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Mueller has requested 70 blank subpoenas in preparation for Manafort’s July 10 Virginia trial.