Paul Manafort trial: Judge T.S. Ellis III known as taskmaster, unafraid to speak his mind

Kevin Johnson | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Manafort arrived to court for new charges Paul Manafort, the former campaign manager for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential bid arrived to court for an arraignment hearing on new obstruction charges. (June 15)

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – T.S. Ellis III had something to say about the prosecution strategy of former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort – and he was not about to hold back.

“You don’t really care about Mr. Manafort’s bank fraud," Ellis said, referring to the barrage of criminal charges leveled against the former Republican political operative. “What you really care about is what information Mr. Manafort could give you that would reflect on Mr. Trump or lead to his prosecution or impeachment. …The vernacular is to 'sing.'"

No one would have blinked had the remarks come from Manafort’s defense attorneys. But the reason the otherwise uneventful May pretrial hearing made headlines is because the biting commentary came from the presiding judge.

Since his appointment to manage what represents the first criminal trial in the 14-month tenure of Russia special counsel Robert Mueller, the 78-year-old former Navy aviator already has left his own mark on a case that began Tuesday.

During Tuesday's jury selection, Ellis engaged in lighthearted exchanges with some of the prospective panelists, including one woman who volunteered a quick answer before Ellis could complete his questioning.

“I know I’m predictable,” Ellis said. “My wife says that’s one of my only virtues.”

In court, he appears to relish sparring with attorneys, an equal-opportunity taskmaster who has moved the case forward – despite last week's brief delay – at a pace in keeping with the courthouse's reputation for its "rocket docket."

His written rulings are often as sharp as the courtroom commentary. Earlier this month, when he ordered Manafort moved to the Alexandria Detention Center, he quickly – and colorfully – dispensed with defense attorneys' arguments that such a move could pose undisclosed safety concerns.

"Defense counsel has not identified any general or specific threat to defendant's safety," Ellis wrote after prosecutors revealed that Manafort had been afforded "unique" privileges at another Virginia lockup. "They have not done so, because the professionals at the Alexandria Detention Center are very familiar with housing high-profile defendants, including foreign and domestic terrorists, spies and traitors."

Ellis, nominated in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan, also is familiar with his share of high-profile defendants in his more than three decades on the bench.

In 2009, Ellis presided over the trial of former Louisiana Democratic Rep. William Jefferson, who was convicted of corruption-related charges and sentenced to 13 years in prison. During the investigation, federal investigators famously found $90,000 in cash stashed in his freezer.

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Jefferson was released last year when Ellis vacated all but three of the 10 criminal counts after a Supreme Court decision that redefined officials' exposure to allegations of political corruption.

Ellis said the decision should not be interpreted as a vindication of Jefferson. Rather, he described the former congressman's actions as "plainly venal."

In a 2002 case that shook the nation after the 9/11 attacks, Ellis sentenced John Walker Lindh to 20 years in prison for aiding the Taliban during the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.

The U.S. citizen who became known as the "American Taliban," Lindh took part in a violent clash of Taliban prisoners that resulted in the death of a CIA officer.

Paul McNulty, then the chief federal prosecutor in Alexandria, said Ellis made a definite impression during the case.

With a high-powered defense team calling for the dismissal of the case against Lindh, McNulty recalled Ellis holding forth at length in a ruling for the government in which he barely referred to written notes.

"We just sat there kind of in amazement," McNulty said. "There was a lot on the line; he did it all from the top of his head. I was just stunned."

Soon after the decision to uphold the government's case, Lindh agreed to a deal with federal prosecutors that included the 20-year prison sentence.

McNulty, a former deputy attorney general, said Ellis' actions in the Lindh case were consistent with his long career on the bench.

"Judge Ellis has demonstrated enormous capability over the years to manage the most complex cases with intellectual distinction and remarkable consistency," McNulty said.

It has been nearly 20 years, but Lindh's attorney, James Brosnahan, says Ellis' distinctive management style remains a vivid memory.

"He makes it very clear that he is in total control of the room," Brosnahan said.

The attorney recalled a short-lived "tiff" during the emotionally charged case when the judge discussed using a curtain to shield the identities of witnesses in the courtroom.

"I had never seen anything like that in an American courtroom, and I told him so," Brosnahan said, recalling the widespread public anxiety in the wake of 9/11. A public trial was ultimately averted when a plea agreement was reached.

"It was as tense as any case I have ever been in," the California attorney said. "I would put (Ellis) on the strong side."

That personality was on display during a recent hearing in an unrelated discrimination case. Ellis, who often stands at the bench to relieve back pain, couldn't hide his annoyance with the plaintiff who announced she would be representing herself.

The woman said she had tried several times to secure an attorney, but none would agree to take her case.

"Try it again!" Ellis barked before ending the brief session. "Call the next matter!"

Attorney Abbe Lowell, who has worked cases in Ellis' court, said the jurist is demanding of all sides.

"Judge Ellis expects a lot from the lawyers who appear before him, because he exacts that same preparedness and hard work from himself," Lowell said. "He cares about getting issues right, and he gives attorneys the ability to present their cases in front of him so he can do that.”

While demanding, Ellis also brings a wry sense of humor to the bench, even in the most serious of deliberations.

Earlier this year, when Manafort attorney Kevin Downing first broached the prospect of trial delay, saying that his “rosy glasses” preferred a date in November, the judge immediately fired back in kind:

“You need to go back to the optometrist."