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Ex-Mueller prosecutor gives Trump a lesson in better arguments after online attacks
January 7, 2024 3:51PM ET
(AFP / Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS)
Andrew Weissmann, the former top prosecutor on former special counsel Robert Mueller's team, has endured some of the online attacks hurled by former President Donald Trump since becoming a top legal expert on MSNBC. On Sunday, he fought back in the most polite of ways.
While Trump purports to only watch Fox, it's clear he's spending time rage-watching the other networks.
Weissmann appears to have hit a nerve, and the Republican frontrunner took to his personal social media site on Friday, angry over the Justice Department investigating his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. He's also angry about documents he stole from the White House and refused to return after over a year of attempts, subpoenas, and ultimately, a raid by the FBI. Hiding sensitive government documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort is thought to be one of the most damaging legal problems he faces.
On Truth Social, Trump wrote, "CROOKED JOE BIDEN (sic) and the Radical Left Democrats, together with their minions in the DOJ, are coming after me, that moron’s Political Opponent, (sic) like never before in the history of the USA. Crooked Joe is a Threat to Democracy!!! They are setting a horrible precedent for the future of our Country."
He then added, "Deranged Jack [Smith] and Lisa [Monaco], is it a 6 year (sic)Statute of Limitations, or just 5 years? Ask your slimeball Boss, Andrew Weissmann, what your next move will be. Does Crooked Joe Biden know, or understand, what you are doing to our Failing Nation???"
It's unclear why he thinks Weissmann is Smith's boss, as Weissmann spends most of his time teaching at New York University School of Law and speaking on MSNBC. Trump might be confused because Weissmann previously worked on the special counsel team for Mueller. He might believe that working for the special counsel in the past meant it was a permanent position for all special counsels.
Speaking to Jen Psaki on Sunday, Weissmann was diplomatic in his response, encouraging Trump to be better at arguing his cause instead of using random insults.
"I don't think there's anything I can say that hasn't been better said by the main Secretary of State about these kinds of ad hominem attacks," Weissmann explained.
He sorted the comments into two points.
"One is the use of adjectives and adverbs. That is not a legal argument," he explained. "That is not a factual argument, any more than you say the election was stolen. You need to have facts. Adjectives and adverbs is not a way of arguing, especially for someone who has been the leader of the free world."
He then responded to the comments themselves, explaining to Trump that he isn't working on the Smith team.
"On the substance, which is to suggest that I am somehow Jack Smith's boss — again, where are the facts of that?" Weissmann asked. "I've had zero communications with Jack Smith and his team. They're both independent, both within the Justice Department and certainly for the legal analyst on MSNBC."
See the comments in the video below or at the link here.
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