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June 19, 2018
Judicial Watch Sues DOJ for Andrew Weissmann Text Messages Regarding Trump, Clinton
(Washington, DC) —Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit asking the court to compel the Department of Justice produce “all text messages to or from DOJ official Andrew Weissmann” regarding President Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice(No. 1:18-cv-01356)). Weissmann is a senior deputy for Special Counsel Robert Mueller and a former chief of the Justice Department criminal fraud division.
Judicial Watch filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia after the DOJ failed to respond to a December 15, 2017, FOIA request seeking:
- All text messages sent to or from DOJ official Andrew Weissmann regarding Donald Trump and/or Hillary Clinton between August 8, 2016 and the present.
- All calendar entries, whether in physical or electronic form, for Weissmann from January 1, 2015 to the present.
Judicial Watch noted that the DOJ “has failed to produce the requested records or demonstrate that the requested records are lawfully exempt from production.”
Weissmann’s objectivity in Mueller’s investigation was called into question in December 2017 when Judicial Watch obtained through aFOIA lawsuitan email Weissmann wrote praising former acting Attorney General Sally Yates for defying Trump on enforcement of the president’s so-called travel ban.
Weissmann wrote to Yates in the email: “I am so proud. And in awe. Thank you so much. All my deepest respects.” President Trump fired Yates soon after.
Also in December 2017, theWall Street Journal reportedthat Weissmann had been in attendance at Hillary Clinton’s 2016 election night party. According to theWashington Post, Weissman contributed more than $4000 to the Obama Victory Fund in 2008 and $2300 to the Clinton campaign in 2007.
Weissmann, described byThe New York TimesasMueller’s “pit bull,”is the lead prosecutor in the Mueller team’s case against former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.
“Clearly, it is up to Judicial Watch to get to the heart of the corruption at the out-of-control Mueller team and the FBI,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The IG report was so watered down as to be nearly useless. The recent DOJ Inspector General’s report noted that five unnamed FBI employees have been referred for investigation into whether their text messages violated FBI code. The leadership is compromised, and the meandering Mueller investigation must be shut down.
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