James L Quarles III

In a career encompassing litigation, complex civil matters, and arguing before SCOTUS and Court of Appeals for the Federal, First, Second, Third, Fourth, Sixth and District of Columbia Circuits, James Quarles is best known for being an assistant special prosecutor on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force which he served from 1973-75.

The Independent, 19 May 2017:

“There is nothing comparable to the kind of pressure and obligation that this kind of job puts on your shoulders,” Richard Ben-Veniste, a lawyer who served as a special prosecutor during the Watergate scandal, told CNN describing Mr Quarles’ unique qualifications. “Having been there before, gives him the confidence to know how to do it and how to do it right.”

Andrew Weissmann

The most senior government lawyer to join Mueller’s A Team is DoJ Fraud Chief Andrew Weissmann, a former colleague who worked for Mueller as the FBI’s general counsel from 2011-13. His area of expertise is the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act.

Justice News, 9 January 2015:

“Andrew Weissmann is an extraordinary attorney with an incomparable dedication to the pursuit of justice,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. “As his deep experience demonstrates, many of the top officials throughout the Department of Justice have come to rely upon his wise counsel over the years”

Bloomberg, 2 June 2017:

As the head of the fraud section in the Obama administration, Weissmann’s specialties have included overseeing investigations into corporate wrongdoing and foreign corruption -- including probes into Volkswagen AG over diesel-cheating, global banks over market manipulation and Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobras over corrupt payments.

Aaron Zebley

In addition to his legal expertise, Aaron Zembley’s CV also includes law enforcement experience. He spent seven years as an FBI Special Agent, then moved to the National Security and Terrorism Unit as an Assistant US Attorney before serving as Chief of Staff to Robert Mueller when he was Director of the FBI. For the past three years, Zebley has been a partner in the law firm WilmerHale.

The Hill, 31 March 2014:

He also worked in the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division for seven years. Robert Novick, co-managing partner of WilmerHale, said that Zebley’s experience “will add to our internal investigations, crisis management, and cybersecurity capabilities.”



Jeannie Rhee

A partner at Mueller’s former law firm, Jeannie Rhee specialized in investigations practise. She too has has prior experience with the Justice Department.

Bloomberg, 2 June 2017:

Rhee, for the past six years, has advised Wilmer clients under government investigation. She previously worked for two years as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel advising the White House and the attorney general on executive power and national-security issues.

Peter Carr

Peter Carr is another with an interesting and varied background. He was attached to Orrin Hatch’s staff as spokesman from 2002-07 which included a re-election campaign in 2006. From there he moved to Alexandria to serve as spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA). Carr’s mission on Mueller’s team will be to handle media inquiries related to the high-profile investigation.

Politico, 26 May 2017:

Carr has worked at Justice Department headquarters since 2013 as the top spokesman for the Criminal Division. He also did a stint recently as the acting director of public affairs while Obama appointees were cycling out and Trump picks were cycling in.

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Pluck from the bios these keywords:

Watergate, executive power, national security

fraud, counterterrorism, cybersecurity

justice, EDVA

and the composite is revealing in the context of Mueller’s Russiagate assignment. Like the opening scene from the Mission: Impossible television series, Robert Mueller is assembling a team comprising a range of expertise that will have every aspect of Russiagate covered — and we have a window into what those aspects are by ‘reading the signs’, ie the specialized skills each individual brings to the team.

This exemplification of the full team represents a dazzling line-up. If the sum of its parts is greater than its individual talents, expertise and experience, it will indeed be Robert Mueller’s Justice League, and a formidable force majeure.