Special Counsel Robert Mueller had a really bad day Friday when a federal judge in Virginia sharply challenged his case against Paul Manafort, suggesting that Mueller overstepped his authority in a quest to topple President Donald Trump from office.

Judge T. S. Ellis III said prosecutors had pursued fraud charges against Manafort in hopes of gaining evidence to incriminate the president, according to The New York Times.

“You don’t really care about Mr. Manafort’s bank fraud,” said Ellis, who reportedly lost his temper at times. “You really care about getting information that Mr. Manafort can give you that would reflect on Trump and lead to his prosecution or impeachment or whatever.”

Ellis said the charges against Manafort “manifestly don’t have anything to do with the campaign or with Russian collusion,” and that Mueller may be overstepping his authority to “tighten the screws” on Manafort so he’ll give up the goods on Trump, The Times reported.

“I don’t see what relation this indictment has with anything the special counsel is authorized to investigate,” he said, according to the transcripts. “What we don’t want in this country is we don’t want anyone with unfettered power.”

If that doesn’t convince you how bad a day it was for Mueller, then take the word of Fox News senior news correspondent Brit Hume, a widely respected journalist, who took to social media to offer his analysis after reading the transcript from Friday’s hearing.

“I did not realize until I read the full transcript of Friday’s court hearing how badly it went for the Mueller team, which was reduced to arguing: yeah, we violated the regulations governing special counsels but those regs are not enforceable in court,” Hume tweeted, linking to those transcripts.

I did not realize until I read the full transcript of Friday’s court hearing how badly it went for the Mueller team, which was reduced to arguing: yeah, we violated the regulations governing special counsels but those regs are not enforceable in court. https://t.co/mNG8aNsI2h — Brit Hume (@brithume) May 6, 2018

Hume also expressed gratitude to Judge Ellis for “bringing such a violation to light.”

“Mueller’s team may be right that the court can’t toss the Manafort indictment based on violation of the special counsel regulations,” he said in a follow-up tweet, “but we are in debt to the judge for bringing such a violation to light.”

Mueller’s team may be right that the court can’t toss the Manafort indictment based on violation of the special counsel regulations, but we are in debt to the judge for bringing such a violation to light. — Brit Hume (@brithume) May 6, 2018

President Trump commented on the judge’s comments Friday during a speech at the National Rifle Association annual meeting, suggesting it confirms that Mueller is out of control.

“I’ve been saying that for a long time,” Trump said. “It’s a witch hunt.”

Hume linked to the Techno Fog Twitter feed in another tweet for the crib notes of the 48 pages of transcript.

“Great thread if you’re interested in the Federal Court hearing 5/4 where the judge challenged the special counsel’s authority to conduct the investigation that led the a Paul Manafort indictment. Interesting read,” he tweeted.

Great thread if you’re interested in the Federal Court hearing 5/4 where the judge challenged the special counsel’s authority to conduct the investigation that led the a Paul Manafort indictment. Interesting read. https://t.co/Bb5rzggSkG — Brit Hume (@brithume) May 5, 2018

Techno Fog shared a blow-by-blow of the beating Team Mueller took Friday, as seen here:

I got my hands on the May 4 transcript from the USA v. Manafort hearing in front of Judge Ellis. (Thanks to a close friend.) Here we go… pic.twitter.com/MsEmKIlUhn — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

Judge Ellis immediately lays out his understanding of the Manafort case: The criminal indictment relates back to 2005, 2007, etc., that the DOJ investigation of Manafort had been going on for years. The Special Counsel (SC) concedes that fact. pic.twitter.com/0fa711HOCT — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

Judge: When SC was appointed, did DOJ turn over their Manafort file to you? Special Counsel: [Evades] Judge: “I’m sorry. Answer my question.” pic.twitter.com/Otfgbxezhw — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

Judge Ellis: “If I look at the indictment, none of that information has anything to do with links or coordination between the Russian gov’t and individuals associated with the campaign of Donald Trump.” pic.twitter.com/GzYgUlyR0d — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

Judge Ellis recognizes what this is: an attempt by Mueller to squeeze Manafort. He likens the whole thing to a small-time drug dealer getting pinched. “I think we out to be very clear about these facts and what is happening.” pic.twitter.com/6UpL1NdP5B — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

The Judge lays out his correct observation that this case is all about leverage

against Manafort. He asks the Special Counsel if that assessment is wrong. The Special Counsel refuses to answer the question. Twice. pic.twitter.com/4vi1KKOglU — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

Judge: How does the 2005/2007 bank fraud have anything to do with coordination b/w the Russians and the Trump campaign? Special Counse: [More evasion] Judge: “You’re running away from my question again.” pic.twitter.com/RMCVPMtY35 — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

Important exchange here. SC explains to the Judge that the indictments are w/in the scope of the SC appointment: leads from the prior DOJ case eventually contributed to and led to the indictment. The Judge isn’t convinced. pic.twitter.com/YaVX20rROT — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

SC: If the investigation is valid, the crimes that arose from that investigation are w/in the SC’s authority to prosecute. Judge: “Even though it didn’t arise from your investigation. It arose from a preexisting investigation.” lol. pic.twitter.com/ZrMovIwB0s — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

An amazingly arrogant sequence here by team Mueller. The SC is basically telling the Judge that grants of authority to the Special Counsel cannot be challenged through the courts. Not “judicially enforceable.” pic.twitter.com/droTOG82vB — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

That is what elicited Judge Ellis’s response that we don’t want “unfettered power.” Judge Ellis continues, saying he’s not going to be persuaded that Mueller has “unlimited powers to do anything” Mueller wants. pic.twitter.com/rysP4lIH9x — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

Here, Judge Ellis is requesting the full August 2 Rosenstein memo. Important Q: What if the memo proves right Judge Ellis’s suspicions about the SC being a means to impeachment? pic.twitter.com/Q7KgFODbyL — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

Eventually the SC sits down and it’s Manafort’s lawyer’s turn. Judge Ellis to Manafort’s lawyer: Does the 8/2 memo remedy any issue with Mueller’s jurisdiction? Manafort’s lawyer: No. It can’t retroactively be remedied. pic.twitter.com/cacD2MRZHC — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

Judge: Isn’t the right result to give the case back to the EDVA USAO? Manafort lawyer: No – Mueller had no authority to conduct a grand jury investigation, to get search warrants, to get the indictment. [Personal note: I just don’t see the judge going that far.] pic.twitter.com/20Q7MJhC2l — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

It’s time to start punching back: Manafort’s lawyer almost accuses the SC of lying to the court about whether the indictment “arose from” the SC investigation. The SC’s arguments are “absolutely erroneous.” pic.twitter.com/3SOmHICbJY — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

This statement by the SC proves that Rosenstein has hid the true scope of the Mueller probe – and how it has expanded/shifted – from the public. pic.twitter.com/nKdV2g3z4i — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

And here we go: Judge Ellis gets after the SC for trying to have it both ways. The result – “Come on, man” pic.twitter.com/kz4X3JMfuv — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

Important. Judge Ellis explains the Mueller’s end game: “You really care about what information Mr. Manafort can give you that would reflect on Mr. Trump or lead to his prosecution or impeachment or whatever. That’s what you’re really interested in.” pic.twitter.com/bAlGuxOZBV — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

After going through all that, they get back to the real issue: Are the Rosenstein memos from May 2017 and August 2017 sufficient to confer jurisdiction to the Special Counsel? pic.twitter.com/iw3vB5PNRi — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

Judge Ellis contemplating why the Manafort case couldn’t be sent to the EDVA USAO office by referencing the Michael Cohen case: “Wasn’t there a matter in NY recently that the special counsel returned to the Southern District of New York?” pic.twitter.com/1QjGAheJvu — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

Judge Ellis poses a question (a Q to which he will later provided an answer), asking why the Cohen was referred to the SDNY. Special Counsel “not at liberty” to answer that question…. pic.twitter.com/2JEnUvk9P6 — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

However, the Judge has his own theory: Did the SC farm out the Cohen case because it wasn’t within the SC’s jurisidction, or…. Did it have SDNY handle the Cohen case because they “can’t use this to further [the Special Counsel’s] core effort, which is to get to Trump” pic.twitter.com/ttv7L5UjZh — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

The SC’s explanation as to why the Cohen case is different from the Manafort case isn’t convincing. pic.twitter.com/mmmtZfRX4f — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018

Judge Ellis then tells the SC that the indictment does not mention: (1) Russian individuals

(2) Russian banks

(3) Russian money

(4) Russian payments to Manafort The SC concedes that fact. pic.twitter.com/BjH2aOF6Lq — Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) May 5, 2018