Andrew Weissmann in 2003.
Photo:
jeff mitchell / Reuters
President Trump’s flow of pardons and leniency this week are being denounced around the world, and many of them seem undeserved or worse. But critics would have more credibility if they tried to understand why tens of millions of Americans would give up on Andrew Weissmann.
Mr Weissmann is a former deputy special adviser to Robert Mueller in the Russian collusion probe. He is a Democratic supporter who can be seen even now on MSNBC, suggesting that Mr. Trump obstructed justice in the investigation that never proved convincing. He and his fellow prosecutors spent two years, with the full resources of the federal government, trying to prove a case that did not exist.
Instead, they accused people in Trump’s orbit of crimes unrelated to their primary purpose. They tracked down Paul Manafort for a rarely enforced foreign lobby status and then presented evidence of tax fraud. They forced George Papadopoulos and Alex van der Zwaan to plead on the basis of a single false statement. Roger Stone was convicted of obstructing a congressional inquiry.
Sir, Manafort’s tax offenses are serious crimes and that’s what a jury saw them. He and Mr. Stone, former business partners, have long been vicious politicians like Mr. Trump like to have around him. But there is no doubt that they were targeted not for their specific crimes, but for associating with Mr. Trump. Prosecutors went out to catch Mr. Trump – many of them still are – and were happy to bring down others in the hope that they would have evidence against the president.
However, the men in question had nothing to offer beyond what prosecutors from other sources said. It was inevitable that Mr. Trump would pardon these former associates before he left office. If the good and the right want to avoid political pardons, they should be more critical of the political consequences.
These points do not apply to pardons for former GOP congressmen Duncan Hunter and Chris Collins. Both men admitted that they violated the public’s trust and, at most, deserved to have their sentences commuted, not to have their sentences overturned.
The pardons of four Blackwater security agents convicted of killing civilians in Iraq are also hard to justify. It reminds us of Mr. Trump’s previous intervention to save the Trident pin for Navy Seal team leader Eddie Gallagher, whose colleagues refused to defend his behavior. These decisions show disrespect for American soldiers who must be disciplined under great stress on the battlefield.
The pardons that seem to be exercised by the majority of the political class in Washington, however, are those related to the Mueller-Weissmann probe. And on those he could contemplate their own complicity. The saga of collusion in Russia has affected American confidence in government institutions far more than its promoters admit. Their refusal to admit their prejudice and their own role in it fuels the cynicism that Mr. Trump is too happy to exploit.
Potomac Watch: With the launch of Rod Rosenstein’s “purpose” memorandum and the Justice Department’s withdrawal of his case against Michael Flynn, the spotlight is on Robert Mueller. Image: Getty Images Composer: Mark Kelly
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It appeared in the printed edition of December 26, 2020.