Top Mueller prosecutor was source of ‘negativity’ and mistrust at FBI: Ex-bureau lawyer

The former top lawyer at the FBI, Jim Baker, testified during a civil trial in early March that his predecessor, Andrew Weissmann, caused a culture of “negativity” and mistrust at the bureau during his tenure as the FBI’s top lawyer from 2011 to 2013. Weissman also served as a prosecutor for special counsel Robert Mueller. According to Politico, Baker testified that Weissmann’s leadership created significant mistrust within the FBI and a lack of communication inside the FBI counsel’s office, with FBI employees often not telling each other what they were doing.

Baker, who played a key role in the Trump-Russia investigation, also said that he inherited a “silo problem” from Weissmann, in which FBI employees failed to inform each other about their work. Baker further testified that Weissmann’s leadership style discouraged communication and honesty, causing the highest levels of the office to not speak up or express concerns when they disagreed with a decision, including former FBI Director James Comey. The revelations about Weissmann surfaced during a civil trial stemming from a lawsuit brought in 2020 by former FBI lawyer Marciann Grzadzinski against the Justice Department and the FBI.

Weissmann has since become an MSNBC analyst and has made news, particularly by commenting on the Mar-a-Lago classified documents saga as “incredibly damning” and a “substantial criminal case.”