In an interview with New York Magazine this Thursday, the former deputy to Robert Mueller during the probe into Donald Trump's alleged ties with Russia, Andrew Weissmann, talked about the legacy of the Mueller investigation and the current investigations of Trump's businesses.
Weissman, a former federal prosecutor, was asked by NY Mag's Ankush Khardori what he thinks the odds are that anyone ends up criminally prosecuting Trump.
"If it's going to happen, it'll be in Manhattan," Weissmann said. "That seems like the one that has the most legs. But you and I both know, it's really hard. I've been on the inside and listened to people on the outside. It's really hard unless you're inside to know whether they're really going to be able to make the case."
According to Weissmann, the key ingredient to cornering Trump is to get his CFO Allen Weisselberg to flip. "That is really important — unless you have tapes or a paper trail — to have an insider. I just think it's too early to really speculate until you know whether he's flipped or not," he said.
One of the challenges in investigating Trump is the fact that he never used email -- a detail that Weissmann said poses the same challenge as prosecuting mob cases. "...in those situations, those are why in almost any complicated investigation I've done, you need a cooperator. I mean, you have to have cooperating witnesses."
Weissmann goes on to say that it's a mistake to underestimate Trump's intelligence.
"I am not a subscriber to 'Donald Trump is not smart' or 'is an idiot.' He may not be erudite and come off as particularly educated, but I think he's very, very street-savvy," Weissmann said. "And I think because he has sued and been sued so many times, I think he has a very good idea about where the line is."
Read the full interview over at New York Magazine.
