Andrew Weissmann
{{Short description|American attorney (born 1958)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Andrew Weissmann
| image = NYC Trump court trial 2024-05-28 019 (cropped).jpg
| office = General Counsel of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
| term_start = 2011
| term_end = 2013
| president = Barack Obama
| 1blankname = Director
| 1namedata = Robert Mueller
| predecessor = Valerie E. Caproni
| successor = James A. Baker
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1958|03|17}}United States Public Records, 1970–2009 (New York, Texas, 1993–2004)
| birth_place = {{nobr|New York City, New York, U.S.}}
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party =
| education = Princeton University (BA)
University of Geneva
Columbia University (JD)
| signature = Andrewweissmansignature.png
| caption = Weissmann in 2024
}}
Andrew A. WeissmannColumbia Law Review, Vol. 84, No. 5 (June 1984), pg. 1297 (born March 17, 1958) is an American attorney and professor. He was an Assistant United States Attorney from 1991 to 2002, when he prosecuted high-profile organized crime cases. He served chief of the Fraud Section in the Department of Justice (2015–2017) and as a lead prosecutor in Robert S. Mueller's Special Counsel's Office (2017–2019). He was in private practice at Jenner & Block in New York during two separate periods away from public service. He has taught at New York University School of Law, Fordham Law School, and Brooklyn Law School. He is currently a professor at the NYU Law School.
In 2002, President George W. Bush appointed Weissmann as deputy director and then director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Enron Task Force.{{Cite web |title=Andrew Weissmann Biodata|url=https://its.law.nyu.edu/facultyprofiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=profile.biography&personid=39254 |access-date=2022-04-10 |website=its.law.nyu.edu}} Weissman also served as General Counsel of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 2011 to 2013.
Starting in 2015, he became chief of the Criminal Fraud Section of the U.S. Department of Justice. In June 2017, he was appointed to a management role on the 2017 special counsel team headed by Robert Mueller. To assume that position, Weissmann took a leave from his Department of Justice post. The special counsel's investigation concluded in 2019. At that time, Weissmann returned to his practice in the private sector.
Early life and education
Weissmann grew up in New York, where he attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School.{{Cite web |last1=Thomas |first1=Burger |last2=Defrank {{!}} |first2=M. |date=2002-01-26 |title=N.Y. PROSECUTOR TO RUN PROBE |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2002/01/26/ny-prosecutor-to-run-probe/ |access-date=2023-10-24 |website=New York Daily News |language=en-US}} He subsequently attended Princeton University where he received a bachelor's degree in 1980. After a Fulbright scholarship to the University of Geneva, he received a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia Law School (1984). He then clerked for Judge Eugene Nickerson in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.{{cite web |url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/andrew-weissmann-selected-chief-criminal-divisions-fraud-section-0 |title=Press release: Andrew Weissmann Selected as Chief of Criminal Division's Fraud Section |date=January 9, 2015 |work=U.S. Department of Justice}}
Career
{{See also|Targeting lawfirms and lawyers under the second Trump Administration}}
In 1991, Weissmann was an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York and he remained in that role until 2002. While at EDNY, Weissmann tried more than 25 cases, some of which involved members of the Genovese, Colombo, and Gambino crime families.Darren Samuelsohn. [https://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/06/mueller-russia-probe-trump-239163 Everything we know about the Mueller probe so far]. Politico, June 6, 2017. He led the prosecution team in the Vincent Gigante case, in which Gigante was convicted.{{cite news|last1=Willman|first1=David|title=Mueller deputy Andrew Weissmann has a reputation for hard-charging tactics — and sometimes going too far|url=http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-weissmann-20180216-story.html|access-date=February 20, 2018|work=Los Angeles Times|date=February 19, 2018}}
From 2002 to 2005, Weissmann was deputy director, appointed by George W. Bush, prior to his assignment as director of the task force investigating the Enron scandal. His work resulted in the prosecution of more than 30 people for such crimes as perjury, fraud, and obstruction, including three of Enron's top executives: Andrew Fastow, Kenneth Lay, and Jeffrey Skilling. In a follow-up case in U.S. District Court, Weissmann also was successful, controversially, at arguing that auditing firm Arthur Andersen LLP had covered up for Enron. Weissmann was characterized as a "pitbull" by The New York Times during the Enron prosecution and some said he deployed "hard-nosed tactics and a 'win-at-all-costs' mentality". He had argued for the district judge to instruct the jury that they could convict the firm regardless of whether its employees knew they were violating the law, a court ruling that later was overturned by the Supreme Court. In Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States the court held that "the jury instructions failed to convey the requisite consciousness of wrongdoing".{{cite news|title=Arthur Andersen to cut 7,000 jobs |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/arthur-andersen-to-cut-7-000-jobs-1.303845 |date=April 8, 2002 |website=CBC News}}{{cite court |litigants=Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States, 544 U.S. 696 (2005)|vol=544 |reporter=US |opinion=696 |date=2005 |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/544/696/}} The case resulted in the destruction of the company.
After the special counsel completed its mandate, in 2005, Weissmann was special counsel again with Mueller before heading into private practice at Jenner & Block in New York. In 2011, he returned to the FBI, serving as general counsel under Mueller.Tom Schoenberg. [http://www.smh.com.au/world/trumprussia-senior-us-justice-official-said-to-jump-to-investigation-20170531-gwhovd.html Trump-Russia: senior US justice official Andrew Weissmann joining investigation]. Sydney Morning Herald, June 1, 2017. From 2015 to 2017, he headed the criminal fraud section at the U.S. Department of Justice.
On June 19, 2017, Weissmann joined Special Counsel Mueller's team to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.Karen Freifeld. [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-lawyers/mueller-team-lawyer-brings-witness-flipping-expertise-to-trump-probes-idUSKBN19A1CM Mueller team lawyer brings witness-flipping expertise to Trump probes], Reuters. June 19, 2017.{{cite web|last1=Flegenheimer|first1=Matt|title=Andrew Weissmann, Mueller's Legal Pit Bull|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/31/us/politics/andrew-weissmann-mueller.html|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=December 11, 2017|date=October 31, 2017}} He was called "the architect of the case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort". A news report in March 2019 said he would soon leave the Justice Department, become a faculty member at New York University, and work on public service projects.{{cite news|title=Top Mueller Prosecutor Stepping Down In Latest Clue Russia Inquiry May Be Ending |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/03/14/703108073/top-mueller-prosecutor-stepping-down-in-latest-clue-russia-inquiry-may-be-ending |last=Johnson |first=Carrie |publisher=Morning Edition |via=NPR |date=March 14, 2019}} In 2020, Weissmann returned to Jenner & Block as co-chair of its investigations, compliance, and defense practice.{{cite news |last1=Strom |first1=Roy |title=Top Mueller Litigator Weissmann to Rejoin Jenner & Block in July |url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/top-mueller-litigator-weissmann-to-rejoin-jenner-block-in-july |work=Bloomberg Law |date=April 29, 2020}}
On March 25, Trump issued an executive order 14246 against Jenner & Block that suspended the security clearance of lawyers and "restricted their access to government buildings, officials and federal contracting work".{{Cite web |last1=Scarcella |first1=Mike |last2=Thomas |first2=David |date=March 25, 2025 |title=Trump targets Jenner & Block in latest executive order aimed at law firms|url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-signs-executive-order-against-190149483.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall |access-date=March 25, 2025 |website=Yahoo News }} The order also mentioned the firm's employment of Weissmann.{{Cite news |last=Birnbaum |first=Michael |date=March 25, 2025 |title=Law firms refuse to represent Trump opponents in the wake of his attacks |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/03/25/trump-law-firms/ |access-date=March 27, 2025 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}} The firm has also been involved in challenging a number of policies by the Trump administration since the start of Trump's second term.
= Media and publishing career =
In 2019, Weissmann joined MSNBC as a legal analyst.{{Cite web |last=Vella |first=Lauren |date=November 15, 2019 |title=NBC signs Mueller 'pit bull' prosecutor Andrew Weissman as legal analyst |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/media/470727-nbc-signs-mueller-pitbull-prosecutor-andrew-weissman-as-legal-analyst |website=The Hill}} Beginning in March 2023, he co-hosted the MSNBC podcast Prosecuting Donald Trump (with fellow former prosecutor Mary McCord), which won the 'Webby Winner' and 'People's Voice Winner' in the Crime & Justice category of the 2024 Webby Awards.{{Cite news |last=Mullin |first=Benjamin |date=2023-12-27 |title=True-Crime Podcasts About Trump Are Everywhere |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/27/business/media/true-crime-podcasts-trump.html |access-date=2024-04-24 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |title=Prosecuting Donald Trump |url=http://winners.webbyawards.com/2024/podcasts/shows/crime-justice/282980/prosecuting-donald-trump |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=The Webby Awards |language=en}} Since the second election of Trump, they have co-hosted a podcast entitled Main Justice.Main Justice, [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sending-in-the-military/id1679657705?i=1000712356302 Sending in the Military], MSNBC, June 10, 2025 - w Kafka quote, due process discussion Their May 10, 2025 podcast also was published on the Weissmann May 10, 2025 episode of his Substack newsletter that is entitled, Behind The Headlines.Weissmann, Andrew, [https://weissmann.substack.com/p/sending-in-the-military Sending in the Military], Behind the Headlines, May 10,2025 - w Kafka quote and due process discussion
His book entitled Where Law Ends: Inside the Mueller Investigation was published in September 2020.{{Cite book |last=Weissmann |first=Andrew |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1197637045 |title=Where Law Ends : Inside the Mueller investigation |date=September 29, 2023 |isbn=978-0-593-13857-1 |edition=First|pages=112–13, specific discussion of polling data on 197–200, 228–232|publisher=Random House|location=New York |oclc=1197637045}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{C-SPAN|9267911}}
- https://weissmann.substack.com
{{Authority control}}
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Category:Princeton University alumni
Category:Columbia Law School alumni
Category:21st-century American lawyers
Category:Members of the 2017 Special Counsel investigation team
Category:People associated with Jenner & Block