Former special counsel Robert Mueller defends Russia investigation after one of his team publishes book criticizing him for not being 'aggressive' enough in probe and his decision not to subpoena Trump
Former special counsel Robert Mueller issued a rare public statement Tuesday to push back against criticism from one of his former prosecutors in the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Mueller’s statement came on the same day Andrew Weissmann, a former prosecutor in the special counsel’s office, released a book alleging that the group were not aggressive enough in investigating links between Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia.
Weissmann wrote in the book, named Where Law Ends, that the apparent apprehension came out of concern that President Trump could simply fire them and close the operation. That includes failing to issue a subpoena to Trump to compel his testimony, settling instead for a written statement.
The prosecutor also said he believed Mueller should have explicitly stated whether he believed the president had obstructed justice in the special counsel’s probe.
While Mueller did not specifically mention the book in his statement, the timing of his comments made it clear he was speaking in reference to Weissmann’s critique.
‘It is not surprising that members of the Special Counsel’s Office did not always agree, but it is disappointing to hear criticism of our team based on incomplete information,’ Mueller said.
Former special counsel Robert Mueller issued a rare public statement Tuesday to push back against criticism from Andrew Weissmann (right), one of his former prosecutors in the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election
‘The office’s mission was to follow the facts and to act with integrity. That is what we did, knowing that our work would be scrutinized from all sides,’ he added in the statement.
‘When important decisions had to be made, I made them. I did so as I have always done, without any interest in currying favor or fear of the consequences. I stand by those decisions and by the conclusions of our investigation.’
When asked about Mueller’s statement in an interview with MSNBC on Tuesday afternoon, Weissmann said he agrees with much of what Mueller said.
Mueller’s statement came on the same day Andrew Weissmann, a former prosecutor in the special counsel’s office, released a book alleging that their group did not investigate aggressively enough connections between Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia.
‘I, too, think that he operated completely out of integrity and am grateful to the colleagues I had there,’ Weissmann said.
But he added that he thought it was more important to write a book that provided the American public with a transparent and critical assessment of the special counsel investigation from an insider’s perspective.
‘It would have been easy to write a book that said everything we did was right and everything we did responded to the onslaught coming from the White house or the attorney general,’ Weissmann said.
‘But I was trying to write something for the American public and, frankly, for the historical record, and to try to be as candid as possible about what we did right and what we could have done better.’
Mueller released a 448-page report in April 2019, concluding an investigation that lasted nearly two years and resulted in 34 indictments, many of which were made against members of the Trump campaign.
In the report, Mueller went into extensive detail about Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 election, multiple contacts between the Trump campaign and associates with Russians, and Trump's efforts to quash the probe.
However, Mueller conceded that the evidence he reviewed was not enough to establish a collusion between Trump and Russia.
On the question as to whether the president obstructed justice, Mueller said he could not come to a traditional prosecutorial decision.
Justice Department policy prohibits the indictment of a sitting president.
When asked about Mueller’s statement in an interview with MSNBC on Tuesday afternoon, Weissmann said he doesn’t dispute much of what Mueller said
In Where Law Ends, Weissmann, who led a sub-unit of prosecutors that investigated former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was later sentenced to seven years – writes that Mueller, and his top deputy, Aaron Zebley, shied away from pursuing a financial probe into the president.
‘As proud as I am of the work our team did — the unprecedented number of people indicted and convicted and in record speed for any similar investigation — I know the hard answer to that simple question: We could have done more,’ he wrote.
Weissmann wrote that he believed there were a number of ‘threads to pull on’ when it came to Trump’s finances including, ‘tax fraud, foreign bribery, election fraud, bank fraud.’
‘[But] our office was put on notice by the White House, early on, that engaging in such a broad-based financial investigation might lead to our firing,’ Weissmann wrote
He took particular aim at Zebley for the perceived failure to launch the financial investigation, unkindly likening him to ‘timorous’ Civil War Gen. George B. McClellan, whom President Abraham Lincoln relieved of his command over concerns that he lack aggression.
‘It was agonizing to be told, again and again by Aaron, not to follow any of these leads, and always according to the same defective rationale: that we couldn’t afford to be fired over it,’ Weissmann wrote.
In Where Law Ends, Weissmann, who led a sub-unit of prosecutors that investigated former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, leading to a seven year prison term – writes that Mueller, and his top deputy, Aaron Zebley (right), shied away from pursuing a financial probe into the president.
In his statement, Mueller said Zebley ‘was privy to the full scope of the investigation and all that was at issue’ and praised his work.
‘I selected him for that role because I knew from our ten years working together that he is meticulous and principled,’ Mueller said. ‘He was an invaluable and trusted counselor to me from start to finish.’
Of Mueller’s decision not to explicitly state whether he though Trump had obstructed justice or not, Weissmann wrote: ‘Director Mueller’s decision was to not make that conclusion, and by the way, I would have done it – I told him why I would’ve done it.’
Before joining the Russia investigation, Weissmann was a veteran Justice Department prosecutor with experience going after mobsters and corporate executives.
His book, Where Law Ends, is the first insider account of the Mueller team’s investigation published by a former prosecutor who was part of it.
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