Doesnât matter. Bank fraud and tax fraud are what they are, regardless of whether the clothes come from Walmart or Barneyâs.
Sounds like this grumpy judge isnât going to let me enjoy my lunch. 
(Iâll eat, regardless). 
âIf it doesnât say Menâs Warehouse, then I donât know it,â said the Princeton- and Oxford-educated federal judge who doesnât think it appropriate for the jury in a money laundering case to see evidence of the defendantâs lavish lifestyle.
WTF, give us a break.
OK, Your Honor.
How about, he reported X dollars income and spent 3X dollars over the same time period.
As long as he doesnât let Manafortâs lawyers argue that Rick Gates got the money.
Isnât the exposition of a defendentâs seeking of a lavish lifestyle part of establishing a âmens rheaâ or something like that?
More madness than method, I think.
Not to be too picky, but itâs âMenâs Wearhouse,â not âWarehouseâ.
I would by a suit from Burlington Coat Factory before I bought anything from Menâs Warehouse.
Over priced junk. Bought a suit from there once. It was shedding threads before I put it on.
The press may want to hire Lance Ito of OJ trial fame to do commentary on the judges facinating thought process regarding the law and otherâŚ
Personally, I think these exhibits of Manafortâs excessively affluent lifestyle are superfluous.
To me, saying he spent $150,000 (or whatever) on bespoke suits would be enough of an example for me.
Yes! Thatâs what I (not a lawyer) thought was the standard approach to tax evasion. Evidence that Defendant spent at least $X on his lavish lifestyle, tax return shows $Y income, X >>Y therefore deliberate tax fraud.
Iâm confused as to why the judge thinks itâs not appropriate.
Iâve already gotten quite tired of this judge, and am growing increasingly uncomfortable with his bullshit. Sure, lawyers will tell you that judges of all stripes like to bust everyoneâs chops (especially a prosecutorâs) but I donât like this one bit.
Itâs starting to remind me of an episode of âLaw & Orderâ where the judge kept making comments and getting more aggressive to the point where he came down with a bad cold and someone new was assigned.
Said the Princeton and Oxford educated Republican Federal Judge, who has previously opined that prosecuting Mueller is âdistastefulâ to him. And who would no doubt allow a Virginia jury to view lavish lifestyle evidence against any drug dealer defendant who was African American or Latino.
I guess the judge thinks that people hide income and donât pay taxes on it so they can, you know ⌠hoard the extra money. Itâs not like theyâd want to spend it on stuff. Itâs just a kind of legally casual savings plan.
Sounds like Judge Ellis needs a cookie, his blood sugar may be low.
People only need pictures when they canât read âŚ
donnieâs not on trial here â
Actually I have been wondering how all the toys Manafort bought were relevant to the charges against him. I was hoping to find out. This is one objection the Prosecution should have anticipated.
This Reagan appointee wonât have some uppity guvmint lawyer criticizing the excess of this countryâs super-wealthy God-favored job creators.