Judge Diva Eliis still a Diva

Last week, [Judge T.S. ] Ellis had reprimanded lawyers on both sides [in the Manafort trial] for rolling their eyes and requested that they "rein in their facial expressions."

[...]

After the jury was dismissed Monday evening, [...] Ellis scolded [prosecutor Greg] Andres for lowering his gaze and demanded that Andres look him in the eye when addressing him. Andres defended himself by saying he didn't want to reveal any facial expressions.

  CNN

Ooooooh, the prosecution is getting bold.

Andres and Ellis also got into a debate about the relevance of asking certain questions about political work done in Ukraine. Ellis said he would point to the record to show that he rarely interrupted Andres' questions.

Andres, who clearly disagreed, replied, "I will stand by the record as well."

Ellis shot back, "You will lose."

I bet that's right.

At the end of their heated exchange, though, the mood softened a bit. Andres told Ellis that he "didn't mean to be disrespectful," and Ellis assured him that he was "not worried at all."

Which sounds like a reminder of who's in charge here, to me, rather than a softening of mood.

Ellis reflected on the stress and pressure of high-profile cases and noted that he was just trying to "minimize the stress time."

Yeah, we can tell.

 ...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 8/8:  Even Andrew Napolitano thinks Ellis is out of line:

Fox News judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano on Wednesday said Judge T.S. Ellis has shown “an extraordinary bias” against prosecutors in the criminal trial of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.

“I’m not happy with this judge,” Napolitano said on Fox News. “He’s making too much of the case about him and he’s showing an extraordinary bias against the government. If you feel that negatively about the government, you shouldn’t be on the case. Or you should keep those feelings to yourself, not manifest them.”

Throughout the trial, tensions have been evident between Ellis and prosecutors. On Tuesday, the judge suggested to a prosecutor that his eyes were welling with tears.

“I understand how frustrated you are,” Ellis said to Greg Andres. “In fact, there’s tears in your eyes right now.’’

Ellis has also criticized prosecutors for presenting too much evidence related to Manafort’s spending, pointing out it isn’t a crime to spend on luxuries.

He also told attorneys last week to stop using the term “oligarch.”

“Find another term to use,” he said, suggesting they instead refer to oligarchs as “people who financed the campaign.”

  The Hill

UPDATE:

What in god's name is he playing at?

UPDATE 8/9:

Cornered by a filing from the prosecution, Ellis had to admit to the jury that he "may well have been wrong."