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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Inside Story of Why Mueller Failed (Andrew Weissmann)
Last edited Mon Sep 21, 2020, 09:43 AM - Edit history (1)
Link to tweet
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/09/andrew-weissmann-mueller-book-where-law-ends/616395/
Andrew Weissmann was one of Robert Muellers top deputies in the special counsels investigation of the 2016 election, and hes about to publish the first insider account, called Where Law Ends: Inside the Mueller Investigation. The title comes from an adapted quote by the philosopher John Locke thats inscribed on the façade of the Justice Department building in Washington, D.C.: Wherever law ends, tyranny begins.
Weissmann offers a damning indictment of a lawless president and his knowing accomplicesAttorney General William Barr (portrayed as a cynical liar), congressional Republicans, criminal flunkies, Fox News. Donald Trump, he writes, is like an animal, clawing at the world with no concept of right and wrong. But in telling the story of the investigation and its fallout, Weissmann reserves his most painful words for the Special Counsels Office itself. Where Law Ends portrays a group of talented, dedicated professionals beset with internal divisions and led by a man whose code of integrity allowed their target to defy them and escape accountability.
Theres no question I was frustrated at the time, Weissmann told me in a recent interview. There was more that could be done that we didnt do. He pointed out that the special counsels report never arrived at the clear legal conclusions expected from an internal Justice Department document. At the same time, it lacked the explanatory power of last months bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report on the 2016 election. Even with 1,000 pages, it was better, Weissmann said of the Senate report. It made judgments and calls, instead of saying, You could say this and you could say that.
The Mueller inquiry was the greatest potential check on Trumps abuse of power. The press gives the president fits, but almost half the country chooses not to believe the news. Congress will protect Trump as long as his party controls at least one chamber. Local prosecutors and civil plaintiffs are severely limited in pursuing justice against a sitting president. Public opinion is immovably split and powerless until the next election. Only the Special Counsels Officeburrowing into the criminal matter of Russian interference in the 2016 election, a possible conspiracy with the Trump campaign, and the presidents subsequent attempts to block an investigationoffered the prospect of accountability for Trump. Mueller couldnt try the president in court, let alone send him to prison, but he could fully expose Trumps wrongdoing for a future prosecutor, using the enforceable power of a grand jury subpoena. The whole constitutional superstructure of checks and balances rested on Mueller and his team. As their work dragged on through 2017 and 2018, with flurries of indictments and plea deals but otherwise in utter silence, many Americans invested the inquiry with the outsized expectation that it would somehow bring Trump down.
*snip*
sfstaxprep
(9,998 posts)That he's going to be tried, and serve jail time, along with all his co-conspirators.
We should just feel lucky if he loses the election.
Blue Owl
(49,908 posts)BainsBane
(53,001 posts)Yours goes to another article, in the NYTimes, not the Atlantic.
Nevilledog
(50,660 posts)That was the link to something else I posted....hadn't closed the tab.
Fixed it.
radius777
(3,624 posts)In our interview, I asked Weissmann if Mueller had let the American people down. Absolutely, yep, Weissmann said, before quickly adding: I wouldnt phrase it as just Mueller. I would say the office. There are a lot of things we did well, and a lot of things we could have done better, to be diplomatic about it.
uponit7771
(90,225 posts)DeminPennswoods
(15,246 posts)This is what Weissman is saying here.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Everyone thought he was such a saint. He might not be a demon, but he was definitely not the hero everyone thought he was. He is and always was compromised.
BigmanPigman
(51,430 posts)I read that he steered the investigation away from certain areas...like his money connections with Russia.
uponit7771
(90,225 posts)uponit7771
(90,225 posts)... and neither did Mueller's team.
Few of them have spoken out on why they stayed quiet about Rosensteins request and that in and of itself is a travesty.
radius777
(3,624 posts)who were duped by the cunning Trump/Barr types.
They're conservative white guys who wanted the appearance of justice without rocking the boat too much, without risking their spot at the country club.