‘We could have done more’: Former Mueller prosecutor speaks out on Russia investigation

Unlike the Ukraine scandal, former special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation did not result in articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. But it did lead to the prosecutions of some of Trump’s top allies, including his former campaign manager, Paul Manafort. Andrew Weissman, who headed the U.S. Department of Justice’s criminal fraud division, is speaking out about the investigation — which, according to Weissman, went well, but not as well as it could have.

Mueller’s probe is the subject of Weissman’s new book, “Where Law Ends: Inside the Mueller Investigation,” due out from Random House on September 29.

Weissman told the Associated Press, “I am deeply proud of the work we did and of the unprecedented number of people we indicted and convicted — and in record speed. But the hard truth is that we made mistakes. We could have done more. ‘Where Law Ends’ documents the choices we made, good and bad, for all to see and judge and learn from.”

Weiss, during the AP interview, also said of the book, “This is the story of our investigation into how our democracy was attacked by Russia and how those who condoned and ignored that assault undermined our ability to uncover the truth. My obligation as a prosecutor was to follow the facts where they led, using all available tools and undeterred by the onslaught of the president’s unique powers to undermine our work.”

When Mueller’s report was released in 2019, Trump described it as a total vindication— which is misleading. Mueller asserted that the 2016 Trump campaign’s interactions with Russians, although questionable, did not rise to the level of a full-fledged criminal conspiracy. But Mueller did not render a judgement on obstruction of justice, noting that DOJ policy prohibits the indictment of a sitting president. However, Mueller urged members of Congress to read his report and arrive at their own conclusions.