Interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin sent a letter to Aaron Zelinsky, a former deputy to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, raising serious concerns about the integrity and legality of prosecutions linked to the Trump-Russia investigation during Trump’s first term.
Zelinsky, who led the prosecutions of Trump ally Roger Stone and 2016 campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, is now being asked to provide “information and clarification” and to meet with Martin, whose letter suggests Mueller team attorneys could face criminal liability.
The letter, sent Monday on Department of Justice letterhead, cites recently declassified FBI documents as evidence raising doubts about Zelinsky’s actions as a prosecutor under Mueller.
Zelinsky, now a partner at Zuckerman Spaeder, argued in a 2018 sentencing memo that Papadopoulos’s false statements hindered efforts to “potentially detain or arrest” suspected Russian asset Joseph Mifsud, whom Mueller described as a professor with ties to Russia. Mifsud allegedly told Papadopoulos in 2016 that Russia had damaging information on Hillary Clinton.
Papadopoulos has long claimed that Mifsud was introduced to him by individuals connected to the U.S. government. According to Martin, FBI documents support Papadopoulos’s assertion that he actually provided information that could have enabled authorities to challenge or apprehend Mifsud while he was in the U.S. If true, Martin argues, Zelinsky misrepresented Papadopoulos as obstructing the probe and “sent an innocent man to jail” to bolster the narrative of Trump-Russia collusion.
The request for a meeting with Zelinsky aligns with an executive order signed by Trump on his first day in office, directing the government to address past “weaponization of law enforcement.” Martin has asked Zelinsky to respond by April 25 to schedule a meeting.
