Former Mueller Prosecutor Andrew Weissmann To Write Book On Special Counsel Investigation
Andrew Weissmann Image by Getty/Paul S. Howell/Contributor
By PJ Grisar June 24, 2019
What do you do when you conclude a highly secretive, nearly two-year-long investigation into a sitting president?
Get a book deal, of course.
Andrew Weissmann, one of the top prosecutors on former special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, is breaking his silence on the inner workings of Mueller’s probe into the president and his advisors, The New York Times reports. (In May 2017, Mueller was appointed to investigate evidence both of collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia and of potential obstruction of justice in the president’s firing of former FBI Director James Comey.) Weissmann is the first member of Mueller’s prosecutorial team known to have reached a deal with a publisher about a book reflecting on the investigation. A publishing executive with knowledge of the deal told The Times that Weissmann signed with Random House. The publisher did not respond to The Times’s requests for comment.
During the course of the special counsel’s inquiry, Weissmann worked to build the government’s case against President Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. Manafort is serving a sentence of seven-and-a-half years for conspiracy to defraud the United States and witness tampering, among other charges.
It’s not clear if Weissmann’s book will contain any bombshells. A source familiar with the structure of Mueller’s team told The Times that Weissmann was not a part of the investigation into Trump’s potential obstruction of justice. Given the scope of Weissmann’s responsibilities, it’s likely that Manafort will be a major player in the book.
Weissmann stepped down from the probe this spring in advance of the report’s release.
Prior to his work on the Mueller probe, Weissmann had a long career as a prosecutor working on cases of financial fraud and organized crime. His most high-profile work included cases against the Genovese crime family and Enron, the now-shuttered energy company infamous for corporate fraud. During his investigation of Manafort, Weissmann encountered trouble when the former Trump campaign chairman continued to lie to investigators in violation of a plea agreement.
Weissmann resumed his post as a law professor at NYU following his stint with the special counsel’s office. His courses may prove to be an even greater draw once his book hits shelves.
PJ Grisar is the Forward’s culture intern. He can be reached at grisar@forward.com
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