lawyer brings witness-flipping expertise to Trump probes

[HAB911]

A veteran federal prosecutor recruited onto special counsel Robert Mueller's team is known for a skill that may come in handy in the investigation of potential ties between Russia and U.S. President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign team: persuading witnesses to turn on friends, colleagues and superiors.

Andrew Weissmann, who headed the U.S. Justice Department's criminal fraud section before joining Mueller's team last month, is best known for two assignments - the investigation of now-defunct energy company Enron and organized crime cases in Brooklyn, New York - that depended heavily on gaining witness cooperation.

Securing the cooperation of people close to Trump, many of whom have been retaining their own lawyers, could be important for Mueller, who was named by the Justice Department as special counsel on May 17 and is investigating, among other issues, whether Trump himself has sought to obstruct justice. Trump has denied allegations of both collusion and obstruction.

"Flipping" witnesses is a common, although not always successful, tactic in criminal prosecutions.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-lawyers-idUSKBN19A1CM?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=5947b6e704d3012fc4cf02c8&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

[Achilleaze]

1. Flipity Dippity

Can the republican-kremlin alliance against America be flipped into the realm of something vaguely resembling basic citizen allegiance to the USA and principles of honesty, morality, ethics and democracy?

Stay tuned. But also stay realistic.

[Scarsdale]

2. I get the distinct

impression that little elfin Sessions would be easy to flip. He is a little toady, who seems to be ordered around by Mrs. Sessions, who outweighs him by a lot. He will turn himself inside out to avoid going to prison.

[obamanut2012]

4. I do, too

He cannot handle ANY pressure at all, and cannot think well on his feet, as evidenced by his melting before Harris last week. He also seems like someone who easily runs scared, and easily turns on someone to save his skin.

[NewJeffCT]

3. Who would "flip" on a such a sweet, innocent guy as Trump?

[Botany]

5. I would bet that Kushner will flip

He looks like a rat to me.

[Dopers_Greed]

6. Agreed

He is a silver spoon twink and couldn't handle doing hard time for the benefit of his orange father-in-law.