The former burger chain CEO of federal guns and fraud accusations faces another charge. It spread the “Smear” that reached the White House through conservative critics, leading to prosecutors handling his case.
The latest claims were levelled by Adam Schleifer, a former assistant Los Angeles lawyer, filed last week with the Merit System Protection Committee.
Schleifer’s filing called his firing “illegal” and alleged it was motivated by the indictment of Andrew Weederhorn, former chairman and chief executive of Fat Brand, which owns the restaurant chain for Fat Burger and Johnny Rockets.
Weederhorn maintains his innocence in criminal cases, and his lawyers declined to comment on Schleifer’s allegations.
Schleifer’s recent submissions included a one-line email sent to him “on behalf of President Trump” in March and sent to him that he was being excluded from work.
Schleifer has publicly criticized Trump in the past few years when he was not employed as a prosecutor, but claims he was fired for “involvement in constitutional political activities.”
His first reported shooting came an hour after Right-wing activist Laura Rumer publicly called out for it.
The allegations by the former prosecutor who declined to comment when it arrived this week painted the boundaries between how the event unfolded and his work on the Weederhorn case.
Weederhorn was charged last May with federal charges alleging a $47 million “fake loan” scheme. He was also charged with illegal possession of firearms and ammunition after being previously convicted of a felony. He pleaded not guilty in both cases.
Schleifer said in his submission he was fired based on “his defense team, Mr Weederhorn and his Codefendant Fat Brands, Inc. Smear and promoted Smears.”
The attorney representing the fat brand did not respond to requests for comment. The White House and the US Department of Justice did not respond to inquiries.
Who is Andrew Weederhorn?
Originally from Portland, Oregon, Weederhorn graduated from USC and founded the investment company Wilshire Credit Co., Ltd. at the age of 21. Billionaire philanthropist Elibroad, one of his first financial advocates, invested $300 million, according to a 2013 article.
In 1990, Weederhorn returned to Portland and founded the investment company Fog Cutter Capital. According to The Times, Wiederhorn was worth an estimated $140 million by the late 90s.
In 2000, after Magic Johnson became interested in Fat Burger, Fog Cutter helped fund the company’s ownership change and bought control three years later for $7 million.
Federal authorities allegedly took away shareholder loans in the 2000s, according to a statement filed with the April government that filed against Veederhorn’s efforts to obtain evidence in an ongoing case.
The recent indictment against Weederhorn claimed he issued a shareholder loan of approximately $65 million to Wilshire Credit. Prosecutors say they plan to introduce evidence on these loans later this year.
“The government investigated these loans in the early 2000s and ultimately concluded that we could not claim Weederhorn for a crime because of the overwhelming evidence,” Weederhorn’s lawyers said.
Weederhorn eventually pleaded guilty to 2004 to filing a false tax return with an illegal reward to his associates. He spent 15 months in prison and paid a $2 million fine.
The day before Weederhorn’s plea, the Fogcutter awarded him a $2 million bonus and agreed to continue paying him while in prison.
With this arrangement, New York Times columnist Nicholas Christophe wrote in his first “Greedy Award” Weederhorn:
Weederhorn previously told the Times that his lawyers advised him that his actions were a legal business deal.
Upon his release from prison in 2005, Wiederhorn became CEO of Fatburger. He went to a public relations campaign to restore the reputation of him and his family, including appearing in “The Masked Boss” at a Fat Burger restaurant in Mesa, Arizona.
“I’ve always defied myself to deliberately do something wrong,” Weederhorn told The Times in 2017. “I am very grateful for that, and I felt like I paid a fine.
What are the latest prices?
Wiederhorn’s latest federal investigation began around 2021, when his home was attacked at dawn that December.
According to court filings, authorities searched the residence and found pistols and ammunition in the closet, based on an affidavit claiming the CEO was engaged in tax and wire fraud.
Weederhorn is prohibited from owning a firearm due to his past conviction. At a court hearing last month, Weederhorn’s defense team told the judge that the gun belongs to one of his sons.
In 2023, Weederhorn resigned as CEO and publicly announced that he would frag as a way to “eliminate distractions” in an ongoing federal investigation. A few weeks later, federal authorities said Wiederhorn “reconfigured” the new board “with his control” directors and “under his control” from the FAT brand’s board. The board currently includes three children from Wiederhorn.
Last May, the Federal Ju Court filed charges Weederhorn with a $47 million “fake loan” scheme dated in 2010 by prosecutors. Authorities accused Weederhorn of avoiding taxes by hiding his true income.
The company’s money classified as a “sellor loan” was classified as a “sellor loan” according to the indictment — is said to have been paid to Weederhorn and his family “for personal gain.” Part of that money was directed at private jet trips, ski trips, Rolls-Royce Phantom and other luxury cars, jewelry collections, and baby grand pianos.
According to the indictment, Weederhorn “had no intention of paying back these fake ‘loans.” ”
The indictment cited an email from September 2020. In the email, Weederhorn said his disclosure year sal “we will receive a distribution of $3 million to $4 million as loans from my company and allow those loans regularly.”
“Mr. Weederhorn consulted and followed the advice of world-class experts in all of his business transactions,” Weederhorn’s lawyer, Nicola Hanna, told The Times previously. “We look forward to making it clear in court that this is an unfortunate example of government overreach, and in the absence of casualties, losses, or crime.”
Weederhorn is said to have been supported by the company’s former chief financial officer, Rebecca D. Hersinger, and his outside accountant William J. Amon, who was charged with a 22 count indictment. Both plead not guilty.
Fat brands are also billed.
Brian Hennigan, a lawyer at Fat Brands Inc., previously said The Times was “unprecedented, unjust, unfounded, unjustified.”
Who is Adam Schleifer?
Schleifer, whose father is co-founder and CEO of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, started in 2016 with the US Lawyer’s Office.
During the Congress bid, where he finished second in the Democratic primary, social media Schleifer attacked Trump’s tax policy and actions against federal agents.
In a 2020 tweet, Schleifer accused Trump of eroding the integrity of the constitution.
In his submissions that are fighting over the shooting last week, Schleifer called his social media post “first ordinance protected political advocacy.”
According to the filing, it was Weederhorn’s lawyer Hannah (a US lawyer appointed by Trump at the time), who rehired Schleifer in 2020. After returning to the U.S. federal prosecutor’s office in LA, Schleifer was assigned to continue investigations such as Weederhorn.
Schreifer accused Wyderhorn and his defense team of attacking his work, urging officials to remove him from his case and his job as a prosecutor.
Schleifer also allegedly submitted a March 17 meeting between the US Lawyers’ Office and Weederhorn’s attorneys. Hanna argued that the latter “schleifer asked for removal from the case from the case on false and inappropriate grounds that he and the office reflected “dei.”
At the meeting, the defense team brought up Schleifer’s critical comments about Trump on social media, according to the filing. Schleifer accused Weederhorn and his defense team of providing the same social media posts to White House officials and other “tabloids and ‘civics’ journalists.
Schleifer claimed he was removed from his position “on the basis of these smears.”
Where does the Weederhorn case stand?
Wiederhorn’s securities fraud trial is scheduled for October 28th.
His lawyers argued for the continued firearms case, citing the fact that the 9th Circuit is reviewing gun rights rulings of non-violent convicted felons.
The trial is set for January 20th, 2026.
Times staff writers Matt Hamilton and Laura J. Nelson contributed to this report.
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