Top Mueller prosecutor: ‘We could have done more’ in Russia investigation

A top prosecutor in former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of President Trump’s campaign and Russia is planning a new book that examines what he calls a “hard truth” about the probe; namely, that it was not as successful as it could have been.

Andrew Weissman, the former head of the Justice Department’s criminal fraud division, said he plans to release a memoir on Sept. 29 that details the Mueller team’s efforts to investigate figures close to the Trump campaign and its battles with the White House, according to The Associated Press.

“I am deeply proud of the work we did and of the unprecedented number of people we indicted and convicted — and in record speed. But the hard truth is that we made mistakes. We could have done more. ‘Where Law Ends’ documents the choices we made, good and bad, for all to see and judge and learn from,” Weissman told the news service.

“This is the story of our investigation into how our democracy was attacked by Russia and how those who condoned and ignored that assault undermined our ability to uncover the truth,” he continued. “My obligation as a prosecutor was to follow the facts where they led, using all available tools and undeterred by the onslaught of the president’s unique powers to undermine our work.”

Mueller’s probe, which dominated much of the conversation in Washington, D.C.’s political sphere, concluded last year and largely receded from the headlines. The investigation, which ended with charges filed against members of the Trump campaign, including Paul Manafort and Richard Gates, did not take a position on whether the president had obstructed justice. 

Democrats argued that the probe and the president’s conversations with Ukraine’s president, in particular, revealed intent to seek foreign assistance in the 2020 election and sought his removal from office. The House impeachment effort ended with Trump’s acquittal in a trial in the GOP-controlled Senate in which all members of the Democratic Caucus and one Republican, Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah), voted to remove the president from office. 

–This report was updated at 9:53 a.m.