Andrew Weissmann, one of the lead prosecutors for Special Counsel Robert Mueller, talks with Rachel Maddow about his frustration that the Mueller team did not pursue a financial investigation of Donald Trump that would have answered some of the questions raised by NYT reporting on Trump's taxes. Aired on 09/28/2020.
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Mueller Caved To Trump On Financial Investigation; Failed To Follow The Money: Weissmann | MSNBC
VOTE – This isn’t about supporting a political party or even a political candidate. It’s about saving our democracy at the polls: the right to vote and have that vote counted and a peaceful transition of power. Vote as early as possible (vote.org), complete the census and help two people outside your household to do the same. Ben Franklin after the Constitutional Convention in 1778 is believed to have been asked, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
Vote!
Donald, you’re fired 2020 t-shirt: teespring.com/dkbye
This election is not going to save our democracy unless congress is forced to make actual laws that can’t be stepped over instead of “unwritten” rules that gentlemen should not abuse. If trump has shown us anything in the last four years, sooner or later someone will always cross those imaginary lines. I know lawmakers like soft rules when it comes to themselves otherwise most of them would be doing jail time. My solution to this is to require all politicians to wear body cams that stream with audio 24/7 once they are elected to office. As far as I am concerned when people have control of my money, my life and my lively hood I should have the right to watch them 24 hours a day if I so choose. I want to know who they are meeting with, why , and what is being said. Remember that thanks to Edward Snowden we know that our government can tap any of our phones and listen in at any time. It’s time to flip the table on them.
J Jackson – okay Hahaha, knee jerk we’re gonna git em‼️ Regrets but this sounds preposterous in application to me. There’s a mountain of reformation that’s needed to secure our democracy going forward. djt, billy club bar and mitch have given us excellent targets to start with.
Trump 2020
long nose why
GOP = GOVERNMENT OF PUTIN
🇷🇺🇷🇺
J Welsh, Crack head Biden got 5 million dollars from Russia for unknown reasons, while Dementia Biden was Vice president! Mueller cleared Trump, but he didn’t clear Hunter or Joe! KAG baby KAG
@Blindspot Spotter me 2, I was wondering.
@Corn Pop MAGA hat red alert ! MAGA hats are made in China. The Chinese are now infecting these hats with the trumpvirus. The CDC is now requesting all MAGA hats to be tested for the trumpvirus. Please do wear them to your next Trump superspreader rally.
I bet the Czar loves watching his puppet destroy our institutions on a daily basis and to think it probably only cost Russia a few million rubles and a couple rolls of film.
@liam awry
They are laughing as I type. Putin is one happy criminal.
The Muller team was a huge disappointment. They failed to do their job.
Mueller knew in the first months there were no russians and no russia connections. That’s why he had to go back to Rosenstein and ask for an expanded scope of the investigation. Mueller first found NO CRIME, then he had to find out if Trump obstructed an investigation into the crime that NEVER HAPPENED. The investigation was a sham. Comey testified in 2017, there were no russians.
@Jeff Gibson peddle that sh*t somewhere else!!!
TRUMP SOLD A FLORIDA MANSION FOR A $100 MILLION SIGHT UNSEEN , 2.5 X WHAT TRUMP PAID FOR IT JUST WHEN TRUMP NEEDED THE BAILOUT
SOLD TO A RUSSIAN BILLIONAIRE? WHY?
The mansion was later bulldozed
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article135187364.html
nolinaGirlasia.link
@Loriann Richardson How much weight did you gain in Trump’s first four years? There are eight years to go.
They should have subpoenaed the tax records and investigated the financing and if Trump fired them, fine. Then Trump could have explained why he did it.
You should get off the public computer at Bellevue Hospital.
There is nothing “odd” morons.
You President Trump haters are a very, very special kind of irrelevant laughable joke morons!!!
The IRS HAS his tax records you laughably stupid Trump hating jackasses.
If Trump had not paid taxes THEY WOULD HAVE SAID SO A LONG TIME AGO.
We sane ones all know you are stupid, irrelevant laughable joke liars and there is no evidence the fake New York Times can reveal!
LET THEM PROVE IT!
TRUMP DOESN’T HAVE TO ANSWER THEM!!!
You idiots believe these obvious evil surmising lies.
You laughable screwballs defeated, derelict liars deserve each other.
God LAUGHS AT this!
Satan spews lies about Trump all the time and this “tax” stupidity is another easy to detect laughable false accusation against President Trump timed right before the election just like Satan’s timed lie again Brett Kavenaugh through Michael Avenatti didn’t WORK EITHER.
You idiots believe these obvious evil surmising lies.
You laughable screwballs defeated, derelict liars deserve each other.
God LAUGHS AT this!
Stupid Rachel Maddow tried this stunt and it showed HE PAID TAXES.
You liars NEVER WILL NOR CAN WIN.
“Trump, Kavenaugh, Avenatti, Mueller Prophecies – The The Father, Son and Holy Spirit Is Speaking”
https://youtu.be/kgn8NcvBGBQ
The Blessings Of Jesus Channel 🤣 don’t you have videos to make of you rambling BS and delusions? Leave people who are trying to have a discussion about what is actually going on and don’t want to hear your parroted lies and misinformation you love to post.
@The Blessings Of Jesus Channel you sound so frustrated and upset.
Well, that would have been the right, simple thing to do to avoid this clusterfuck. . . .but no. . . . .WTF!
@The Blessings Of Jesus Channel Get some anger management, please!
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
I knew Mueller blinked when Trump threatened the justice department if they tried to conduct a financial investigation. . Mueller had an opportunity to be a real American hero. Instead he chose appeasement. Mueller is essentially the Neville Chamberlain of our time.
Mueller covered up the inside job that 911 was. He is the ultimate establishment man who can be relied on to do a good job. The people who arranged 911 did it to cause chaos worldwide. Trump is just an extension of that chaos. Mueller did the job he was detailed to do. Did a two year investigation of nothing and came up with no results. Perfect.
Well said!!!
@Joseph Nagle Don’t forget William Barr he had a hand in getting GW off the hook for crimes against humanity. But hey presidents are above the law along with banks , billionaires, and Eric Trump master of disguise.
“Appeasement” is the word of the day.
Trump has presented 2 different, self-contradicting explanations to his tax returns: 1: Someone made them up. 2: Someone released the real returns without his consent. So, are they fake or real? At least Trump will have to make up his mind, because they can’t be both. If a Trump lie, at least it has to be consistent. Or, can the tax returns be both fake and real? I guess, in Trump world! 😀
Trump supporters don’t care if his lies make sense.
Very few people can be counted on to do the right thing in this country anymore
Angel…absolutely.
Mueller couldn’t go for “the money trail” of Trump because Rosenstein put a stop on it. At that time, the FBI agents were about to look for Trump’s financial records for the past 15 years. Coincidence that later Bill Barr was appointed?
EXACTLY 💯 I wish people would understand that Bob Mueller was held back from following the money!! Rosenstein 😈 is the REAL TRAITOR here!!
Mueller should have resigned, stating why. He didn’t have to pretend he was doing his job and stand by while the whole thing was swept under the carpet. He is probably more to blame than any of them.
@Verruca I agree. After all, it was Mueller who chose not to charge Trump with multiple counts of obstruction. He wasn’t even willing to accuse him, despite all the evidence in his report. So even when he discovered crimes, during his narrow investigation, he opted not to pursue them with the severity the deserved.
Mueller failed the American people for being so timid on investigating Trump’s illegal financial activities.
Liberal Tears Hydrate MY Patriotic Republican/Conservative Soul!!!🤣🤣🤣
America. Land of the -brave- book writers.
@RyGuy Americans are crying with 200000 dead from Coronavirus. It is mourning in America.
Robert Mueller’s lack of authority to investigate President Trump’s finances was a consequence of losing the ‘independent counsel’ statute of the post-Watergate Ethics in Government Act. The statute required renewal every five years and was allowed to expire in 1999 by the 106th Congress.
Lacking independent counsel status, Mueller was bound by the OLC’s prior opinion that a sitting president should be immune from federal indictments. Also, Mueller was more exposed to political interference from Trump via AG Barr and Deputy AG Rosenstein.
Well have you tried standing up once in a while sitting on your soul all day could be the source of your headaches.
Well I kept saying you can’t trust Mueller, he’s a republican. He’ll cave to trump. That’s exactly what happened.
@ Doug Rollings …Yes Indeed , I and others like you who said it was stupid to rely on Robert Mueller were absolutely right about that …. but Americans including the Press kept up with their infantile thought that Mueller was a Honest straight-shooter and that it was going to be “Mueller Time ” are the ones people listened to …. now we have trump going to steal the election , and because no one believed that Mueller was actually a snake put in by the republicans ..they only have themselves to blame for 4 more years of this monster.
Trump is POS
@oltedders “That’s why Mueller was chosen. He was part of the 911 report coverup.”
You know nothing. It was because Mueller is a lizard man. It’s worse than you think.
@Richard Christie
OK
@oltedders I just knew you would agree.
Bottom line is these guys caved in to pressure from Trump and his administration. The real losers in all this was the American people.
@Anonymous Maximus “Donald Trump Officially is the new Jesus Christ.”
That’s exactly how they feel about him. Excuse me, Him (capital H). As Trump Himself said: “I am the chosen one. Somebody had to do it.”
@Buff Straw yes! He is God.
@Anonymous Maximus “yes! He [Trump] is God.”
And for His next trick, Trump will resurrect the 205,000 people He allowed to perish from His divine indifference.
@Buff Straw the 205.000 people are in paradise. Trump saved their soul.
@Anonymous Maximus “Trump saved their soul.”
How is he with cash?
Regardless of what Mueller did in his life before Special Counsel, history will remember Robert Mueller as a failure.
@jade I’ve seen Comey talk about this. I’m convinced he did not disclose the existence of Clinton’s emails in order to damage her chances in the election.
Even if you think he did, you cannot blame Comey for Trump-as-president. The blame belongs with 63 million Americans who voted for him, and 40% who support him. EVERY ONE of these people is morally repugnant.
@William Bonney
I only blame Comey for HELPING Trump won the presidency which he did.
@jade I agree that Comey’s revelation helped Trump. (It shouldn’t have. The American people are to blame.) But Comey didn’t do it for that purpose.
@William Bonney
If Comey did not intentionally try to help Trump won the election then could you explain it to me why did he need to announce his investigation? He could investigate her without making it public, couldn’t he? Yet, he chose to make it public. What do you think his intention was?
Everyone can see that Comey is a very smart man. He was an FBI & they’re very calculated in everything they do.
@jade It’s been several years, but I remember that Comey thought that the number of emails was too large for his team to go through before the election. (He was wrong. The FBI did examine all the emails before the election and found nothing incriminating.) Comey thought that, because Clinton’s emails had become an issue in the campaign, he felt that he had to disclose their existence. That’s where we disagree—–his motive. But we agree on the big point—–you say Republicans should not be trusted and I say they should be burned alive.
[For more about Comey’s integrity, look up Comey, George W. Bush’s goons, and a semi-conscious John Ashcroft in a hospital]
Mueller, a Republican, never imagined his fellow Republicans were so corrupt that they would not impeach based on the “tip of the iceberg” which is all he presented, but still more than enough evidence in normal times.
You should have stopped at Mueller, a Republican.
This is Fraud. Trump supporters will do a go fund me, and pay his tax bills. Now we know, he needs to win so that he does not get locked up.
So the president is investigated and he can draw a red line to the investigator. Is that what you call a proper investigation? What a banana republic.
It obviously wasn’t. I suspect that if Mueller had started investigating Trump’s finances the investigation would have been shut down in a hurry.
well said.
Still my Republicunt relatives support him.
@Individual-1 that is because they lack any moral compass, ethics and human decency. I am sorry to say that.
@Individual-1 I would divorce them if I was you my friend. My own cousin who is also black supports the fool because he got a petty lil stimulus payment the fool should be in a insane asylum
I think that Mueller was afraid of losing not only his job, but his pension. However, if Trump told the FBI that investigating his finances was a red line, then Trump interfered and obstructed justice and this is one of Trump’s smoking guns. Now with Mr. Weissmann’s statement there is probable cause to open an investigation into Trump’s finances which not only means Congressional hearings, but a review of all of Trump’s tax returns.
@Jack Jones And you Trust Trump . i got a bridge to sell ..
@luis velez “I trust no man.” “I have no name.” I’m a Dapper Dan man. I never settle for Fop.
Donald Trump Officially is the new Jesus Christ. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgR-P_ydu-A nnnn
@lovableAlexa horrific english
@luis velez Ps. (E)nglish
Mueller will go down as one of the biggest wimps in history. Scared out of his boots and too afraid to challenge Trump. Mueller failed America by being a coward when toughness, courage and strength was needed!
They walked a tightrope. Starting a financial investigation, especially of someone like trump would be very expensive and require hiring experts all of which needed approval and funding from trumps DOJ and we all know now how scared the DAG was.
These guys were never going to be allowed to complete their job thoroughly and effectively. Wimpy or not.
That is pretty harsh! You know he was in retirement right. He got pulled out of it to do this.
@Uouttooo He should have declined if he was too weak and too much of a wimp to do the job. He’s partly responsible for what’s happened to America.
@timething But the fault was clearly on voters who voted for him and Senators that let him stay .
Agreed timething. If anything, Trump is Trump we know who he is but its people like Pence Mitch Ted Cruz Pompeo Cotton and even that Brix lady and many others that we get to see their real colours.
This looks like Tax evasion not avoidance. Who will Trump sell out when loans come due during a possible second term. Wake up America it’s your National security interests.
Paying his daughter $750,000 in consultancy fees is a federal felony as she was employed by Trump as was the Stormy Daniels payout, that was a undeclared campaign contribution also a federal felony
I won’t be surprised if Trump cancels the debate tonight resigns and has Pence sworn in who will like Ford give president Trump a full pardon , only there’s no way the rest of the Trump family will stay out of jail including the princess herself Ivanka , and of course toad boy Eric trump King of Mouse’s both human and all.
@liam awry if only. But he can’t be pardoned on state charges which the SDNY have got ready to file come January
Is Weissmann telling the people that the justice system is corrupt and partial or that prosecutors have no spine?
Yes
Biden’s not trying to hide things like his taxes and other things like HUSH MONEY Trump is. Trump is an obvious crook !
C R O O K and Agent of Chaos. Trump delights in creating the most complicated knots in logic, his smoke and mirrors. Confusing the public is his modus operandi.
Biden and his wife paid $1.5 million in taxes in 2018. Compared to Trumps $750.