Meet Andrew Weissman, Mueller’s ‘Pit Bull’ Lawyer

Andrew Weissmann Image by Getty Images

By Nathan Guttman November 1, 2017

The indictments of Paul Manafort and Rick Gates shed a spotlight on Andrew Weissmann, special counsel Robert Mueller’s top lieutenant. Weissmann took the lead in the case, presenting the indictment to the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

Weissmann, a former New York prosecutor, has a reputation as a very tough adversary.

“Frankly, I can’t think of two people who deserve each other more than Andrew Weissmann and Donald Trump,” Daniel Codgell, a Houston attorney who battled Weissman over the sprawling Enron fraud case, told The New York Times.

He was one of Mueller’s first recruits when he set up his team tasked with investigating Russian interference in the 2016 elections. The Times dubbed Weissman a “pit bull” in a report that portrayed him as an expert in flipping witnesses, making them testify against their former partners and organizations.

His most famous case was that of Vincent “the Chin” Gigante, leader of the Genovese crime family in 1997. It was a tough case to crack, until Weissmann succeeded in convincing a key witness to testify against the boss.

Now, all eyes are on Weissmann to see if he can do the same with Manafort, Gates or other Trump officials.

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter, @nathanguttman

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO