Former federal prosecutor Joe diGenova was in rare form Thursday evening, calling Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s top prosecutor Andrew Weissmann a “Jack the Ripper-like” fiend on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” for using terroristic tactics to coerce Paul Manafort into “turning” on President Donald Trump.
Manafort is facing up to 305 years in prison on various tax evasion charges, which is more than most murderers get, Carlson pointed out.
While acknowledging that he’s always thought Manafort was “a little on the sleazy side,” Carlson told his irritated guest, “I think it’s worth defending the principle of evenly and fairly applied justice.”
“What you are watching is what is called in the Justice Department an in terrorem prosecution,” diGenova explained bitterly. “The use of terror legal tactics to destroy a human being — to try and force him to cooperate when he has nothing to cooperate with…. He has chosen his Jack the Ripper-like leader Andrew Weissmann to use the type of tactics that are properly reserved for mafia gangs, for terrorists — and they have converted Paul Manafort into this ugly creature,” he fumed.
“This is one of the most unfortunate moments in the history of the FBI and the Department of Justice,” diGenova added.
“This case is the Rosemary’s Baby of Rod Rosenstein, who forced this prosecution, permitted the abusive tactics which occurred during the investigation and which are occurring in this trial, agreed to by the FBI director Chris Wray, and of course, the attorney general is asleep — somnambulant — as this horrific embarrassment to the department continues in the Eastern District of Virginia,” diGenova seethed. “This is a disgusting display of prosecutorial abuse for which the attorney general and his deputy should be ashamed.”
DiGenova said that Rosenstein is allowing the abuse to occur because the ultimate goal is to “get something on President Trump.”
“There’s nothing for Manafort to flip on, for heaven’s sakes — so what you are watching is a bizarre mistreatment of a human being. This is a case that should get one to three years at most, but Mueller and Weissmann and all the people in the Department just can’t give it up,” diGenova lamented.
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