Andrew Weissmann, a top prosecutor on Mueller team, to leave special counsel's office in 'near future'

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Top prosecutor Andrew Weissmann is stepping down from Mueller investigation

Weissmann's departure may signal the Mueller probe is ending; chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reports.

Andrew Weissmann, a top prosecutor on Robert Mueller’s team, will conclude his detail in the special counsel’s office “in the near future,” and is expected to work at New York University School of Law, Fox News confirmed Thursday.

“Andrew Weissmann will be concluding his detail to the Special Counsel’s Office in the near future,” Peter Carr, spokesman for the special counsel, told Fox News in an email Thursday.

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A spokesman for NYU School of Law later told Fox News that Weissmann “has been involved with NYU Law in the past,” and that the school has been “talking with him about returning to the Law School following his current commitments.”

Weissmann’s exit, first reported by NPR, could be a signal that Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling and potential collusion with Trump campaign associates during the 2016 presidential election could be coming to an end.

Weissmann helped to build the case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, whose full sentence related to the probe was announced this week. Manafort will face 81 months in prison.

Throughout the investigation, Weissmann had been considered a “deputy” to Mueller, with conservatives targeting the federal prosecutor for his past work and political affiliations.

Weissmann served as general counsel at the FBI and was an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. A veteran Justice Department prosecutor, he was the deputy, and then leader, of the department’s task force that investigated and prosecuted Enron executives in the energy giant’s collapse.

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Throughout his career, Weissmann has taken on organized crime figures, corporate fraud and other complex cases.

"He took on New York's most feared organized crime families, unraveled the incredibly ornate frauds at Enron, and has tracked international criminals, exposing their carefully concealed financial dealings in many dark corners of the world," said Leslie Caldwell, who worked alongside Weissmann at the Justice Department and as a Brooklyn prosecutor.

He also has overseen controversial prosecutions in the past that ultimately resulted in dismissed convictions and allegations of prosecutorial misconduct.

But Republicans criticized Weissmann, and other prosecutors on Mueller’s team, for their assumed political affiliation. Weissmann donated a combined $2,300 to Obama’s campaign in 2008 and in 2006, he contributed at least $2,000 to the Democratic National Committee.