The Honorable "Rocket Docket " Judge T.S. Elliot - the flip side of the "favoring Manafort" coin:
Great background article on the "Rocket Docket" Judge:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/07/31/manafort-trial-judge-ts-ellis/816130002/
"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."
The best part...
"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.