A federal judge in Virginia ruled Tuesday that Paul Manafort’s prosecution for financial crimes should continue, rejecting his legal team’s argument that the charges should be dismissed because Special counsel Robert Mueller’s office overstepped its authority in bringing them.
U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III appeared sympathetic to Manafort’s defense in May, aggressively questioning federal prosecutors as to how the charges brought against Manafort, which are related to his foreign lobbying work, were relevant to the special counsel’s probe into election interference.
However, Ellis ultimately concluded that Mueller was within his rights to bring the charges, which include financial crimes related to Manafort’s lobbying work for a pro-Russian Ukrainian political party. Manafort’s trial in Virginia is set to begin July 25.
“Although this case will continue, those involved should be sensitive to the danger unleashed when political disagreements are transformed into partisan prosecutions,” Ellis wrote.
The decision comes after U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson rejected a similar motion to dismiss charges of failing to register as a foreign lobbyist currently pending against Manafort in Washington, D.C. Berman ruled earlier this month that Manafort violated the terms of his parole by attempting to tamper with the prosecution’s witnesses in his case. As a result, she revoked his house arrest and ordered him to be held in jail pending his September trial in her court.
In May, Ellis expressed skepticism that charging Manafort was within Mueller’s authority, pointing out that much of the evidence related to Manafort’s Ukrainian lobbying work was the product of an investigation that began well before the 2016 election. He further heartened Mueller’s critics by demanding an unredacted copy of the August 2017 memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein detailing the scope of Mueller’s mandate. But he was apparently satisfied by the memo, and declined to dismiss the case.
Though the memo was turned over to Ellis, Manafort’s defense team has not been given the opportunity to review it. The portion of the memo that has been made publicly available revealed that Rosenstein empowered Mueller to examine whether Manafort “committed a crime or crimes by colluding with Russian government officials.”
Another hearing is scheduled for June 29 to determine the outcome of a series of legal challenges disputing the constitutionality of searches on Manafort’s home and office.