Posted on 07/09/2018 3:51:29 PM PDT by ATOMIC_PUNK
Weissmann allegedly improperly disclosed confidential grand jury information and potentially classified information 50,000 pages of new discovery materials were handed to the defense team just 19 days before the scheduled trial Manafort now sits in solitary confinement in a Virginia jail to ensure his own safety
enior Justice Department prosecutor, Andrew Weissmann arranged a meeting with the Associated Press in April, 2016 to discuss circumstances surrounding Paul Manafort’s case before he was appointed to Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel. According to recent court filings submitted to the Eastern District of Virginia court, the meeting was held during the time a Grand Jury had convened in Manafort’s case.
Manafort’s lawyers are requesting a hearing based on Weissmann’s alleged improper disclosure of confidential grand jury information, non-public information, false information and potentially classified materials, the court documents state. Weissmann met with AP journalists on April 11 after reporters informed him of their own investigation into Manafort’s dealings with Ukrainian officials.
CourthouseNews.com points out that, according to Manafort’s attorney, Jay Nanavati, “the government turned over roughly 50,000 pages of new discovery materials to the defense on Friday, ‘a mere 19 days before the scheduled trial in this case.’”
According to sources with knowledge of the meeting, the reporters had reached out to Weissmann on a different story earlier in the year and it was during that conversation that the AP team told Weissmann of their investigation into Manafort. However, according to the recent documents, it was Weissmann that called for the meeting. On April 12–one day after the meeting–the AP published the explosive expose on Manafort.
“The meeting raises serious concerns about whether a violation of grand jury secrecy occurred,” stated Kevin Downing, Manafort’s lawyer, in a motion requesting a hearing. “Based on the FBI’s own notes of the meeting, it is beyond question that a hearing is warranted.”
SaraACarter.com first reported in January the meeting between Weissmann and the Associated Press. However, these current court documents, which include electronic communications and a complaint filed by the FBI against Weissmann, are the first indication that it was Weissmann who called for the meeting.
At the time of the meeting, Weissmann was head of the Justice Department’s fraud division. He was the most senior member of the Justice Department to join the special counsel in May 2016, one month after the meeting with reporters.
Weissmann, who is described by the New York Times as Mueller’s “pit bull” is known for using unscrupulous tactics and has been reprimanded by the courts on several occasions for withholding exculpatory evidence in cases.
According to the court documents released Friday, Weissmann directed the AP reporters to “ask the Cypriot Anti-Money Laundering Authority if they had provided the U.S. Department of Treasury with everything to which they had access or only provided what they were legally required to provide.”
Downing also noted in the court filing that the AP reporters “inquired about FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) violations” and DOJ attendees confirmed to the reporters that it was a prosecutable offense. More importantly, said Downing, the DOJ guided the reporters who wrote the original story on Manafort and noted that the reporters “appeared to have a good understanding of Manafort’s business dealings in Ukraine.
According to the court documents, FBI Supervisory Special Agent Karen Greenaway and Special Agent Jeffery Pfeiffer also attended the April 11 meeting. Greenaway’s notes were more detailed than Pfeiffer’s and revealed detailed information not yet disclosed.
Details revealed in the court documents: The meeting was arranged by Andrew Weissmann Andrew Weissmann directed the AP reporters to ask the Cypriot Anti-Money Laundering Authority (“MOKAS”) if they had provided the U.S. Department of Treasury with everything to which they had access or only provided what they were legally required to provide When the AP reporters inquired about FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) violations, DOJ attendees confirmed that they were prosecutable When the AP reporters asked if DOJ would tell them if they were off base or on the wrong track, government attendees confirmed that the AP reporters appeared to have a good understanding of Manafort’s business dealings in Ukraine In January, AP spokeswoman Lauren Easton said, “Associated Press journalists meet with a range of people in the course of reporting stories, and we refrain from discussing relationships with sources. However, the suggestion that AP would voluntarily serve as the source of information for a government agency is categorically untrue.”
That meeting with the AP was attended by three different litigating offices. Two employees from the U.S. Justice Department and the other representative was from the U.S. Attorney’s office, according to the sources. FBI agents also attended the meeting, as reported in January.
On June 15, a federal judge ordered Manafort to prison for alleged witness tampering while he was out on bail. He is currently at Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw, VA, where he has since been in solitary confinement for 23 hours every day. According to his attorneys, the jail determined that if Manafort was to be detained, solitary confinement was the only way to “ensure his security.”
This is a travesty to justice and needs to be shut down!
Charge Meuller with U1. This will disappear. weissman is a loser who is still working for the Gov’t. What a crock. Fire him. charge him. execute him. No more delays.
So I wonder how many bribes Weissman accepted from the Prestitutes for feeding them info? Or was he banging a few?
Weissmann should have been disbarred after Enron
So?
This Mueller team seems to operate according to their own rules and the law is whatever they say it is.
Weissman needs to prove that he is not being paid by G. S0r0$.
This is easier to read - just the highlights of the article at the beginning:
“”Weissmann allegedly improperly disclosed confidential grand jury information and potentially classified information””
“”50,000 pages of new discovery materials were handed to the defense team just 19 days before the scheduled trial””
“”Manafort now sits in solitary confinement in a Virginia jail to ensure his own safety””””
So where is the indictment against Weissmann. Weissmann is lucky this hearing isn't in front of Judge Sullivan, rather than Manafort's Clinton butt-kissing judge. 19,000 pages of discovery so soon before trial? Typical prosecution strategy to hide the relevant evidence until late in the game.
This whole debacle must come to an end. Mueller must go!
This travesty of a case against Manafort should be immediately dismissed with prejudice, and the Prosecutorial staff brought up on ethics charges at their respective bar associations.
This crap needs to stop. It may well require that we force the issue...
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