US District Court Judge TS Ellis admitted that he made a major mistake in the trial of President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Prosecutors filed a motion complaining that Ellis' comments could hurt special counsel Robert Mueller's team. Ellis said it was a mistake to criticize Mueller's team in front of the jury for allowing a witness from the IRS to remain in the courtroom while other witnesses testified. US District Court Judge TS Ellis admitted on Thursday morning that he made a major mistake in the trial of President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort that could hurt the special counsel Robert Mueller's team, according to Politico. Witnesses usually aren't allowed to hear other witnesses testify so they don't work together or affect each other's stories. But Ellis gave Mueller's team permission at the start of the trial to let one particular IRS witness stay in the courtroom and watch the proceedings, according to the report. On Wednesday, Ellis criticized Mueller's team in front of the jury for allowing the witness to remain in the courtroom while other witnesses testified. "It's my clear recollection .... that I wasn't admitting experts. You need to ask specifically. You're going to go ahead now, I'm going to permit that, but I want you to remember that," Ellis said, according to Politico. After Mueller's team pushed back on the judge's claims, Ellis said, "Maybe I made a mistake. But I want you to remember don't do that again. When I exclude witnesses, I mean everybody. Now, it may be that I didn't make that clear." On Thursday morning, Mueller's team filed a motion to protest how Ellis criticized them. They asked him to explain to the jury that the witness was permitted to stay by citing the transcript from the opening day of the trial, which showed that Ellis had approved it, according to Politico. "The Court's reprimand of government counsel suggested to the jury—incorrectly—that the government had acted improperly and in contravention of Court rules," the prosecutors wrote in the motion. "This prejudice should be cured." Ellis addressed the jury on the matter before the first witness of the day testified on Thursday. He said he "may well have been wrong" for his public chastising of the prosecutors and told the jury to ignore what had been said the previous day. "This robe doesn't make me anything other than human," Ellis said. "You've got to put that aside." Ellis has made a name for himself for his feisty demeanor in the courtroom and has not shied away from showcasing aspects of his personality during the trial. He has talked to the jury about their lunch options multiple times, and often cracks jokes.<doc-sep>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. More: Mueller team unveilslist of 35 witnesses in Manafort trial More: Mueller seeks immunity, secrecy for up to 5 witnesses More: Judge delays Manafort's criminal trial until July 31 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."<doc-sep>Whatever criticism he has faced does not seem to have fazed Judge Ellis at all in his conduct of Mr. Manafort’s trial, the first to consider charges stemming from the investigation led by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel. “I am a Caesar in my own Rome,” he said at one point, discussing why he refused to allow defendants to plead no contest instead of guilty. “It’s a pretty small Rome,” he added. Some lawyers who have been in his courtroom say it’s better to allow him to have the last word rather than engage in what are essentially contests over who has more intellectual firepower. Away from the courthouse, lawyers and former clerks said, there is a softer side to the judge not always visible from the bench. The first judge to preside over a naturalization ceremony in Arlington Cemetery, Judge Ellis is known for growing emotional every time he administers the oath of citizenship. To the jurors, the judge could not be more solicitous, joking about the plain lunch menu (“You won’t find baked alaska”). At least the meal is free, he told the jurors on opening day, saying he hoped no one had a fleeting urge to “slit their wrists” because they had been unfortunate enough to be picked from the jury pool. He has clearly reveled in his captive audience. “My hearing is not what it once was,” he said last week, pausing for a beat with comic effect. “Nothing is what it once was.” Born in Bogotá, Colombia, he took the opportunity during a sentencing to display his fluency in Spanish, questioning the defendant himself while an interpreter stood by. Even if the spectators had come only for the Manafort case, he said, he was glad they got a chance to see the criminal justice system at work. He has weighed in on a variety of issues outside the courtroom, criticizing conditions at a Virginia prison and questioning whether sentencing laws are too harsh.<doc-sep>
President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort's trial begins Tuesday into charges that include tax fraud, conspiracy, and failure to register as a foreign agent. Federal judge Thomas Selby Ellis III is presiding over the high-profile trial. Ellis has challenged special counsel Robert Mueller's intentions before, earning the praise of President Donald Trump. President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort's trial begins today for more than 20 charges in the special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, including tax and bank fraud, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and failure to register as a foreign agent. Presiding over the case is a senior judge in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Thomas Selby Ellis III, a.k.a. T.S. Ellis III. And he's already made headlines in the Russia investigation. In May, Ellis challenged the scope of the special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, expressing concerns about the team's charges against Manafort that could be part of a larger plan to bring down Trump. "We don't want anyone in this country with unfettered power," Ellis said in court to federal investigators in May. "It's unlikely you're going to persuade me the special prosecutor has power to do anything he or she wants. The American people feel pretty strongly that no one has unfettered power." A federal judge later allowed the case to go forward. Trump praised Ellis during a rally speech railing against the Russia investigation in May. "Judge T.S. Ellis, who is really something very special, I hear, from many standpoints," Trump said. "He is a respected person." Ellis previously ruled Manafort must be held in solitary confinement while awaiting trial and granted immunity to five witnesses. His role in the Russia investigation is just the latest event in a long career of high-profile cases. Ellis' past and other controversial cases he presided over Cameras are set up outside the US District Courthouse ahead of the opening day of Manafort's trial in Alexandria, Virginia on July 31, 2018. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein Ellis was born in 1940 in Bogota, Colombia, and immigrated to the US. After a five-year stint in the US Navy, he completed degrees at Princeton University and Harvard Law. He also got a Diploma in Law from the University of Oxford in 1970, then joined a private practice in Richmond, Virginia. Ellis also briefly taught law at the College of William and Mary in the 1980s. Former President Ronald Reagan nominated Ellis to the bench on July 1, 1987, and the Senate confirmed him on August 5, 1987. The Washington Post wrote of Ellis in May that he "is known for his sense of humor, his long digressions and his demanding and somewhat confrontational attitude toward the lawyers who appear before him." Ellis' background as an immigrant shaped his special interest in regularly presiding over several years of naturalization ceremonies and was the first to hold such a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in 2008. According to an account from the Washington Post, Ellis teared up as he personally greeted each participant at the emotional outdoor ceremony, telling an Iraqi immigrant he was "honored that you chose to be an American." Through his long career, Ellis has presided over controversial cases, and has often favored US institutions in questions over violent tangles abroad. In 2009, Ellis dismissed a lawsuit against the Blackwater security firm that accused them of allowing the killings of more than 20 Iraqi civilians. In 2006, he dismissed a case from a German citizen who said the CIA kidnapped and beat him. Ellis was also the sentencing judge in the case of American Taliban member John Walker Lindh. "In times of war, our country, chiefly through the executive branch, must often take exceptional steps to thwart the enemy," Ellis wrote in his 2006 decision.