Where Law Ends
Where Law Ends: Inside the Mueller Investigation is a best-selling non-fiction book written by Andrew Weissmann, a former Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA), and later a General Counsel of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 2011 to 2013. Released by Random House on September 29, 2020, the widely read book gives an insider's view into Department of Justice special counsel Robert Mueller's highly controversial investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election of Donald Trump. Synopsis In May 2017, Robert Mueller led an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election which evaluated the effect of Russians exerting influence in the campaign of Donald Trump, considered the possibility of collusion, and explored the potential for an obstruction of justice charge against the President and several of his staff. Former FBI director Mueller, a registered Republican, acting as Special Counsel, led a group of prosecutors, predominantly registered as Democrats, and, for the next 22 months, their investigation was followed with intense interest by the American public and diverse media until the publication of their report in April 2019. In Where Law Ends, Weissmann reveals what went on inside the investigation, including the internal team conflicts, difficult decisions, and mistakes made by the investigators. He also describes the stress caused by what he personally viewed as the efforts of President Trump and Attorney General William Barr to divert the direction of the investigation and ultimately mold the results of the published report to their own political ends. Others have differed with Weissmann's views on whether the President or Attorney General intentionally intended to divert the direction of the investigation. Weissmann places the reader inside the Department of Justice where the team made the decisions that most affected the outcome and impact of the special counsel's report, including whether to subpoena the president, whether he could be required to submit his taxes to expedite a full financial investigation, and whether to bring obstruction charges. Compromising meetings with Russians Of exceptional importance in Weissmann's book was the testimony given to the FBI by Paul Manafort, who briefly served as President Trump's 2016 campaign manager. Manafort testified to the FBI that during the 2016 campaign he gave important 2016 polling data on battleground states to Konstantin Kilimnik, cited by the FBI as having links to Russian intelligence. The FBI's determination of Kilimnik's status as a Russian agent was reported by the New York Times, and later relayed to the Senate Intelligence Committee. Kilimnik had been a former co-worker of Manafort when he managed the 2010 campaign of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. Manafort renewed his relationship with Kilimnik during the 2016 campaign. As Weissmann was the lead prosecutor in the investigation of Manafort, Manafort's connection with Russian intelligence became a critical aspect of his investigation. Weissmann was aware the FBI had determined that Kilimnik was a "known Russian Intelligence Services agent implementing influence operations on their behalf." Weissmann noted that campaign aid Rick Gates also testified Kilimnik had received polling data, given to Kilimnik