Rep. Adam Schiff on Sunday questioned if it was “germane” for a federal judge to criticize how much money special prosecutor Robert Mueller was spending as part of his Russian meddling investigation.
In remarks on CNN’s “State of the Union,” the California Democrat pushed back at criticism by Judge T. S. Ellis, who is presiding over the tax and fraud case against Paul Manafort, who has pleaded not guilty, in a Virginia federal court.
"I'm not sure that it's germane, for example, for the judge to be asking how much Bob Mueller has spent on the investigation," Schiff said.
"It's appropriate to ask about the scope of what Bob Mueller is doing, but he is well within the scope of his jurisdiction in charging Manafort and [former national security adviser Michael] Flynn and the others.”
Ellis pressed Justice Department lawyers to explain why they think they hadn't exceeded the scope of Mueller's probe into Russia meddling — suggesting the real objective was to impeach President Donald Trump.
"You really care about getting information Mr. Manafort can give you that would reflect on Mr. Trump and lead to his prosecution or impeachment,” the judge scolded.
Schiff said the judge's comments didn’t concern him.
"While certainly within the judge's prerogative to ask these questions, I don't think it really bears on the legal issues and so I think that Bob Mueller will prevail in the sense of being able to go forward with this litigation,” he said. “I don't think there is legal question about that.”