With the Trump-Russia probe gearing up in full speed, it might behoove you to get familiar with the investigative team that Robert Mueller has assembled. The team reads like the “who’s who” of the legal system and brandishes an almost super-hero level caliber of people. This is becoming one of the largest investigations in U.S. history, so follow through and look at the amazing cast of players that may be taking down the Trump administration.
1. Andrew Weissmann is no stranger to danger. He served 15 years as a federal prosecutor in New York. During that time he specialized in going after mafiosos like the Gambino, Genovese, and Colombo families. He also served as the leader for the Enron task force for which he oversaw the prosecution of 34 people.
Federal prosecutors Andrew Weissmann (L) and Matt Friedrich (R)
Next: You’ll need a little foreign bribery experience.
2. Greg Andres has his own history in prosecuting mob families. He was a prosecutor out of Brooklyn and went after The Bonnano family. It was later discovered that the family actually had a hit out on Andres while he was prosecuting the family. Andres also served in the DOJ as Deputy Assistant Attorney General. He also worked in the private sector more recently at Davis Polk & Wardwell where he was a defense attorney for white-collar criminals.
Next: The one who took down the wolf.
3. Kyle Freeny was most recently involved in the prosecution of Riza Aziz for financing the film The Wolf Of Wall Street with stolen assets from the Malaysian government. She ended up leaving that case back in June, however, presumably to join Mueller’s team. Freeny, Andres, and Weisman are heading up the prosecution of Manafort and Gates, and also garnered a guilty plea from Papadopoulos.
Next: She served under Eric Holder.
4. Jeanie Rhee is an Obama era DOJ deputy assistant attorney general where she served for 2 years under Eric Holder. She also worked with Mueller at the Wilmer Hale law firm. According to Politico, Rhee is at the center of the Flynn investigation. Her critics will likely attack her for her ties to both the Obama administration and defending Hillary Clinton in multiple lawsuits.
Next: She stares down terrorists.
5. Zainab Ahmad is a badass counter-terrorism prosecutor for the U.S. attorneys office. She has successfully prosecuted nine terrorists during her tenure in her role. She’s never lost a case against any of her terrorist foes. Ahmad’s former supervisor told The New Yorker that Ahmad probably spent more time talking with “legitimate Al Qaeda members, hardened terrorist killers,” than any other prosecutor in America.
Next: Meet Rosenstein’s guy.
7. Brandon Van Grack is your “G-man” with a personality to boot. A former colleague and executive director of Georgetown Law’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy told the Daily Beast, “It would absolutely make sense that a small team like this would want him at their core because of how impossible it is not to get along with him.” Van Grack worked in the U.S. attorney’s office where he specialized in prosecuting espionage, national security, and international crime cases.
Next: Meet Mueller’s right-hand man.
8. Aaron Zebley has years of experience with the FBI’s counterterrorism unit. He was investigating groups like Al-Queda before 9/11 occurred. In addition, he also served in the U.S Attorney’s office in the national security and terrorism unit. Wired magazine called Zebley “a dogged FBI agent turned lawyer turned confidant,” and characterized him as “Mueller’s right-hand man.”
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