How did they get this in? Was Judge Cranky napping?
“Rick, we need to discuss Steve Calk for sec. of army. I hear the list is being considered this weekend."
Gates was working on the inauguration. If that’s as high as Manafort could go to obtain this favor, his reputation in influence-peddling circles will never be the same!
If Calk did know that the loan application was fraudulent (or otherwise pushed the policies of his bank to make them go for something that big) it’s game, set and match. But not what this particular trial is about.
Napping? Yes.
Sounds like a pretty clear case of quid pro quo, no?
FIFY! 
Um you know where this is going…Wilbur Ross & Bank of Cyprus…
Kind of surprised Ellis allowed Andres to even talk about Calk at all.
The way he’s been in this trial.
Good grief. Pauley Suits and Gates were even more smarmy than I thought. No wonder they were drawn toward Trump.
Sec of the Army - a job with real national defense/national security implications. All those “Republicans are stronger on national defense!” dipshits who emerge from under their rocks during every election should be beside themselves, but they’ll ignore or excuse it.
I think it is really important to recognize what is going on with the judge in this case, especially if you want to know what the world will be like with Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court. Without going into specifics, I’ve been involved in lots of criminal trials over the past 30 years. Judges who give defense lawyers a hard time are not rare, but most judges keep their opinions to themselves and let the parties try their cases. Judge Ellis is interfering in this trial in a way that I have almost never seen. He has almost become an advocate—for the defense. He has a reputation for being unable to keep his opinions to himself, and for having a need to be recognized (whether justifiably or not) as the smartest person in the courtroom. In the past, he has been much harder on the defense than the prosecution, and rarely if ever has he given the prosecutors a hard time. This issue has been raised on appeal by a number of criminal defendants who were convicted in his court, after Judge Ellis’ comments during their trials appeared clearly to be aimed at aiding the prosecution and disadvantaging the defense. None of those defendants has prevailed on this issue on appeal, at least as far as I’m aware. What is important to note here is that Ellis is a republican, he is very much opposed to the idea of an independent/ special counsel, and he has a strong bias toward the privileged and the powerful which he is apparently unable to overcome when he takes the bench. He is clearly placing his thumb on the scales of justice in this case, and he is doing it invariably in favor of Manafort. If Manafort wins this case, the verdict is not appealable (due to the “double jeopardy” clause of the 5th Amendment). Judge Ellis knows that, and so should everyone else.
I agree that the judge is over stepping boundaries but the evidence against Manafort and his years’ long history of slimy unsavoury business deals are so strong.
This is a link from Josh’s article on Desperate, Desperate Manafort
It makes me think how could Manafort win?
On the other hand who would have thought OJ would be declared “not guilty.”
This three minute video is the real reason Trump decided to conspire with the Russian government to meddle in the 2016 election. It’s about a grudge against Obama. And that is horrific.
http://mankabros.com/blogs/onmedea/2018/08/05/the-reason-donald-trump-conspired-with-russia-to-win-the-presidency/
Fox won’t bother telling them about it.