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Meet The Mueller Prosecutor Who Scares Trump More Than Mueller | The Beat With Ari Melber | MSNBC - YouTube
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federal investigations have been snared
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many of Donald Trump's most senior aides
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and his prosecutors probe deeper into
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the remaining senior aides as well as
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the people at the Trump board some of
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the names that are left in both worlds
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are obviously Donald Trump's own family
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now many prosecutors are actually
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especially cautious when it comes to
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splitting families against each other in
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a probe but not this one the hardball
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federal prosecutor Andrew Weitzman many
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call him molars legal pit bull and some
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of trumps most enthusiastic legal
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defenders have tougher words for
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Weitzman than even for his boss Bob
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Muller
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I've called mr. Weisman the poster boy
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for prosecutorial misconduct he has
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chosen his Jack the Ripper like leader
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Andrew Weissman guess what Weissman is a
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legal nightmare
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Weissman yes what he's a legal tyrant
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Andrew Weissman is a very very powerful
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weapon in the government's arsenal I
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don't like angel Weissman heading this
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prosecution that was Trump's former
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lawyer he doesn't like it well that
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brings us tonight special report do you
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reason why team Trump fears Weissman and
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what it actually says about the future
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of trumps family and how the probe may
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reportedly look at people as it draws to
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a potential close so let's get into it
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why it's been known for tough and
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sometimes controversial tactics lately
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Trump allies have seized on for example
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this new footage of Roger Stone's home
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raid to try to impugn this investigation
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well it was a Weissman operation that
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first deployed a pre-dawn raid back on
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Paul mana Ford's home in July 2017 with
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absolutely no warning FBI agents showed
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up before dawn to search the suburban
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Washington DC apartment of Paul mana for
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raiding a home in the middle of the
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night is an indication of a very serious
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criminal case in Criminal Investigation
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the Justice Department guidelines
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require agents to pursue evidence by the
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least obtrusive means possible sending
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armed agents to his bedroom door in the
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middle of the night is not the least
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obtrusive means possible Weitzman honed
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his hardball strategy in one of the most
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far-reaching aggressive and actually
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controversial prosecutions in modern
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American law the
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investigation that probe was high stakes
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because President George W Bush actually
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had deep ties to that Texas Energy
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Company and so his DOJ tried to show
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there'd be no favoritism so they
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appointed a special task force run by
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the FBI director at the time
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Bob Muller that was Bush's proof this
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was going to be a tough probe and then
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Muller needed a point man to show it was
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going to be a tough probe and he chose
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Weissman to lead a quote elite team of
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FBI agents and federal prosecutors to
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investigate and prosecute any crimes
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related to Enron now what was true then
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is very relevant now in the Muller Pro
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picking Weitzman mint you would get very
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tough prosecution and maybe
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controversially so because he's widely
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known for being effective and
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controversial and that is based on three
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major tactics keep an eye out for these
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as we see where this whole thing goes
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one he super-sizes even seemingly small
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offenses to play hardball to he has
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managed to flip even hardened criminals
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into cooperating witnesses in three he
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charges targets that many prosecutors
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actually avoid like entire corporations
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or defendants own family members I
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repeat defendants own family members
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those first two tactics are pretty
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widely used the third as you may know
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isn't and during the time that this
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Enron prosecution was going on there was
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a top DOJ official James Comey someone
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who of course is relevant now in the
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Russia probe as a DOJ official who stood
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up to Trump which we know the president
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didn't like what he did was a disgrace I
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think he goes down as the worst FBI
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director in history by far this nobody
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plus director Comey was very unpopular
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with most people they had the very poor
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performance on Wednesday that was a poor
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poor performance he was grandstanding
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all over the place he's a showboater
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that same Comey that the president
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didn't like well history has thrust him
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as a key figure into this probe where
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Wiseman works and Comey was quite public
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at the time in his praise for Weisman
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I'd like to thank Andrew Weissman deputy
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director of the Enron task force who's
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standing around the room someplace I
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want to thank and congratulate Andrew
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Weissman her deputy let me thank the
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Enron taskforce in particular Andrew
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Weitzman who is the head of our Enron
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task force he and his brilliant team
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were in Houston today where their hard
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work continues and you can see Muller
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off to the side there while Comey talks
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he often avoided those microphones now
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that hard work as Comey put it led to
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some hard calls like whether prosecutors
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should single out just bad employees or
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indict entire companies now that's
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controversial because if it sends the
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company to jail well you could think
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about it it's like the company goes out
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of business and innocent people lose
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their jobs but Weitzman's team decided
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that the evidence of a criminal
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enterprise in the Enron case was so
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strong forget it they would indict the
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entire accounting firm Arthur Andersen
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that served Enron and they initially won
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that case the Arthur Andersen accounting
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firm was found guilty in a Houston Texas
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federal court today of obstructing
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justice in the Enron investigation this
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case was really about a simple principle
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which is when you expect the police
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don't destroy evidence now that actual
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indictment was controversial for the
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very reasons critics warned about
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thousands of employee employees did lose
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their jobs when the company shuttered
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and after that conviction ultimately the
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Supreme Court unanimously overturned it
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a legal ruling that part of the strategy
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just went too far in dining entire
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corporations is one thing indicted
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defendants families is another now in
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general federal guidelines do discourage
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prosecutors to use tricks to pit family
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against each other there's also a
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spousal privilege which generally
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protects a spouse from being forced to
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testify against their partner now
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Weissman didn't break those explicit
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rules but let's be clear he took an
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aggressive stance by indicted the wife
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of chief financial officer Andrew Fastow
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on a misdemeanor
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when FASTA was resisting pressure to
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plea
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today the Enron task forces continuing
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investigation has led to the unsealing
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of three new criminal indictments and a
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six count indictment against leaf fast
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out as the indictment charges she and
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her husband and others were part of a
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conspiracy to maintain control of an
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asset that Enron had but couldn't keep
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in name now that was our ball miss fast
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I wasn't exactly running Enron she
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wasn't widely considered a major player
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reuters reported that Wiseman was trying
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to gain leverage from indicted the wife
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in that case eventually fast out did
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plead guilty turning over documents that
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proved Enron was participating an
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accounting fraud and that the CEO knew
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about it in other words Weissman and
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Muller the folks playing hardball they
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would argue they got where they needed
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to go and those documents were crucial
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to the case Weissman had no reservations
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about pursuing someone that he thought
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was guilty and could help the case
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former US Attorney Barbara McQuade says
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Miller's team may also be looking at
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statutes that are used against mob
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bosses to sweep up potentially family
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members involved in a conspiracy if they
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are in other words racketeering
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potentially against Trump's family and
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Weitzman did some of that kind of
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prosecution with Enron he's also known
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for dangling the threat of even more
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jail time to keep people in check and
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casting a wide net a hundred and
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fourteen people he named is unindicted
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co-conspirators but then again remember
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critics point to the Supreme Court's
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unanimous rebuke of Weitzman as a sign
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that these tactics have their limits and
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you could argue that those critics have
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a point because if this hardball were
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deployed against you or your family
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members you might think it was pretty
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unfair on the other hand Weitzman's
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defenders say this is what they have to
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do they're not dealing with normal
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people who are complying they're only
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using these tactics with people who
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systematically commit alleged crimes and
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then commit new alleged crimes to hide
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their old crimes the kind of a rabbit
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hole blizzard of crimes and cover-up
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designed to defeat the one lawful force
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that would exist to catch
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and faced with that Weissman who again
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at the time was working under Muller
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supervision his argument is look we're
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gonna come hard at the cover-up just as
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hard as we've come at the original crime
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the fact Weitzman at the time was
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arguing he was basically up against a
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criminal enterprise whether he faces one
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today of course is an open question
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we're not reporting that tonight but
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he's already part of a team that has
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indicted people on obstruction crimes
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and cover-up which include as you know
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the president's campaign chair deputy
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campaign chair national security advisor
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longtime lawyer and longest-serving
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political adviser many on similar cover
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up style crimes and there's one thing
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that Weitzman's critics and allies agree
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on if you remember nothing else we all
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know this this pitbull prosecutor that
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Miller tapped mr. Weissman and his team
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they're not even done sifting through
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the rubble the Enron task force is
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continuing to sift diligently through
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the rubble that was Enron piece by piece
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scheme by scheme and lied by lie I am
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now joined by a claim business
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journalist Bethany McLean a contributing
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editor of Vanity Fair author of several
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books including the smartest guys in the
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room the amazing rise and scandalous
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fall of Enron you've been at this story
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from the start thanks for being here
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thanks for having me in your view with
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the long eye of history
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what did Muller and Wiseman learn
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through the hardball tactics of the
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Enron probe well I think that in some
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cases they're necessary and helpful of
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course necessary and helpful as you
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pointed out depends on which side of the
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aisle you're your ear sitting on but it
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really turned out to be pivotal in the
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case of Enron the ability to convict
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Jeff Skilling rested on Andy Fastow as
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testimony and if faster hadn't
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cooperated eventually with the
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investigation its history history would
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history would have been different and
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that's a lot of history you're saying
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though fast sales cooperation was a
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product of why it's been going after
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family well Fastow had been indicted and
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was refusing to play until Wiseman
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indicted
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his wife in a superseding indictment
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that brought additional charges against
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Fastow and others but also included his
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wife and given that the couple had young
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children at that time it could have
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meant that they both would have been
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away in jail with no one home to care
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for their children and it's indisputable
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that after that Andy Fastow did plead
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guilty and when he pled guilty this
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document turned up that was one of the
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clearest indications of accounting fraud
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at Enron and a key link to showing that
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Jeff Skilling knew about about the
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accounting fraud and until that point
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the document hadn't turned up the only
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copy of it was in a safe deposit box
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that fast I said he and he and his wife
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found when they visited their bank after
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he had pled it's fascinating and you put
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your finger right on the details there
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so what you're saying is on the one hand
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this was key to securing a conviction
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that many legal experts and certainly
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people concerned about corporate fraud I
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thought was a very good thing The
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Hardball got them that on the other
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you're talking about tactics that too
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many people if you were knew those folks
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who were friends with them you're
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talking about the legal equivalent of
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Orphanage their children right it's fine
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it's unquestionably a hardball tactic I
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don't think Lee Fastow would have been
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charged if it hadn't been for the
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possible benefit she could she could
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bring and putting pressure on her
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husband her her wrongdoing was was
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minimal especially in the scope of what
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what happened it at Enron clearly a
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tactic before I lose you I want to play
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one more thing which is this is part of
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why some of trumps allies are so
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obsessed with with Weitzman Donald
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Trump's longest-serving lawyer Jay
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Goldberg who served before Cohen told us
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on this very show that they had some
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sort of special arrangement take a
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listen to this Muller has agreed not to
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have wife involved in any investigation
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of the president thank you
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who told you that somebody on the
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president's staff that was a White House
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lawyer or a staff why do I have to lie
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was it Ty Cobb well a little deposition
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tactic there we don't know if that's
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true we just know that Trump's former
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lawyer there Jay Goldberg asserted it
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does that sound like something Weitzman
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would agree do based on your knowledge
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of his record no that does not sound
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like it would be true to me and just to
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put this in broader context by the way
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these cries of prosecutorial misconduct
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prosecutorial overreach they happen in
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every single trial this one in the Enron
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case are just a lot more high-profile
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than most trials but it's not like it's
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new people in the defense seats are
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always screaming that the prosecution is
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overreaching so by no means is this is
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this some kind of fresh accusation yeah
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bad thing you make such a great point
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which is many many a criminal defense
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lawyers try to put the rest of the
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system on trial because they can and it
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doesn't involve dealing with the
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evidence against their client as you say
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if the viewers aren't following every
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trial in the country they might think oh
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does this this only happened with Miller
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Enron and Russia and as you say not
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really
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you were there from the start your
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award-winning book I really appreciate
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you coming on the beat to tell us about
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it thank you
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Thank You Bethenny hey I'm already
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Melbourne from MSNBC you can see more of
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our videos right here or better yet
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subscribe to our YouTube channel below
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