Paul Manafort leaves the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after a status conference on Nov. 2, 2017. Credit: Diego M. Radzinschi /ALM. A federal judge in Virginia is allowing special counsel Robert Mueller's bank fraud and tax case against Paul Manafort to proceed, with a trial set to begin in July. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III of the Eastern District of Virginia denied on Tuesday a bid by Manafort's lawyers to dismiss a superseding indictment against the former Trump campaign chairman. Manafort's lawyers have argued Mueller overstepped his authority as special counsel by pursuing charges against Manafort for acts that pre-dated Donald Trump's presidential campaign. Ellis caught national media attention earlier this year after he grilled Mueller's prosecutors on how the Manafort charges fit within the scope of the special counsel's investigation. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller special counsel in May 2017. Rosenstein, who began overseeing the probe after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from investigating matters related to the 2016 election, authorized the former FBI director to investigate links between the Trump campaign and Russia, and other matters that arose from that inquiry. “You don't really care about Mr. Manafort's bank fraud,” Ellis told U.S. Deputy Solicitor General Michael Dreeben. “What you really care about is what information Mr. Manafort could give you that would reflect on Mr. Trump or lead to his prosecution or impeachment." The president later seized on those comments, during a National Rifle Association speech in Dallas. “I've been saying that for a long time. It's a witch hunt,” Trump said. In Tuesday's ruling, Ellis re-aired his concerns and took shots at the special counsel. “[E]ven a blind person can see that the true target of the Special Counsel's investigation is President Trump, not defendant, and that defendant's prosecution is part of that larger plan,” he wrote. The judge said Mueller's charges against Manafort were part of a plan “to induce defendant to cooperate. Although these kinds of high-pressure prosecutorial tactics are neither uncommon nor illegal, they are distasteful,” he said. Manafort, 68, was first indicted in the Eastern District of Virginia in February. The longtime lobbyist also faces a separate set of charges in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, including charges of fraud, conspiracy, and failing to disclose work as a foreign agent. Manafort's lawyers had asked Judge Amy Berman Jackson to dismiss those charges in the district court, but she declined to do so, finding that “indictment falls squarely within” Mueller's authority. A trial for those charges is set for September. Read more: Paul Manafort to Appeal Judge's Decision Placing Him in Jail Reed Smith Bolsters Readiness in Russia Case, Adding Appellate Duo Paul Manafort's Losing Streak Deepens in Washington Court Judge Orders Paul Manafort to Jail in Wake of Witness Tampering Claims