Judge poses pointed questions on Manafort charges at hearing

By MATTHEW BARAKAT
The Associated Press
ALEXANDRIA, Va.  — A federal judge on Friday asked pointed questions about special counsel Robert Mueller’s authority to bring charges against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and suggested that prosecutors’ true motive is getting Manafort to “sing” against the president.
Manafort’s lawyers argued at a hearing in Alexandria that the tax and bank fraud charges are far afield from Mueller’s mandate t