Federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is presiding over the government's case against Paul Manafort, reportedly got fed up Wednesday with the defense's assertion that someone's operating out of bounds.
CNN:
... Berman Jackson grilled Manafort attorney Kevin Downing for 50 minutes in open court over whether Manafort had the ability to bring the civil lawsuit against the Justice Department.
Previously, Manafort's attorneys complained that [Special Counsel Robert Mueller] exceeded his authority by opening cases against Manafort, because they involved business conducted years before he joined the Trump campaign in 2016.
Yet that was no longer an issue Wednesday, and instead will stay part of the legal arguments in his criminal case. Downing said in court they've changed the civil complaint they have about Mueller's investigation to say that they now think only Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein overstepped his authority when he appointed Mueller.
(...)
Downing attacked a section of the public order Rosenstein gave Mueller when he was appointed last May. That appointment allowed Mueller to investigate links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign, plus "any matters that arose or arise directly from the investigation." Manafort takes issue with the second part.
A Justice Department lawyer asked Berman Jackson to throw out Manafort's civil lawsuit and instead visit some of the issues Manafort has raised during his criminal case.
Berman Jackson didn't decide on the lawsuit on Wednesday, and will issue an opinion later.
(...)
Berman Jackson got so frustrated with the way Downing had changed his case, as he neared the end of his argument, she cut him off mid-sentence: "I don't really understand what's left of your case. Do you have one case that supports this?"
Downing answered that he did not have any existing case law to offer.
BuzzFeed News adds Downing also was arguing to stop the DOJ from bringing even more charges against his client.
Pressed by the judge about how Manafort could sue now if he was trying to stop activity by the special counsel's office that hadn't happened yet, Manafort's lead attorney Kevin Downing argued that the harm to Manafort was ongoing because the special counsel's investigation and the grand jury were still active.
Without an order from the court stopping Mueller's office from pursuing other charges in the future — based on an appointment order that Downing contends was unlawful — Manafort would have to "sit and wait" and keep chasing the special counsel's office wherever they decided to prosecute him next in order to challenge Mueller's appointment, Downing said. He didn't specify what other types of charges he thought the special counsel might be investigating against Manafort.
Manafort's next DC court date is April 19th.
Judge casts doubt on Manafort effort to kill Mueller indictments (CNN)
Paul Manafort's Lawyers Are Trying To Block Mueller's Office From Indicting Him Again (BuzzFeed News)