WASHINGTON — The Justice Department dropped a case against restaurant group Fat Brands and its chairman, Andy Wiederhorn, on Tuesday, months after the White House took the unusual step of directly firing a career federal prosecutor who was handling the case.
The government filed an unopposed motion on Tuesday to dismiss a case against Wiederhorn as well as William Amon, Rebecca Hershinger and Fat Brands, Inc., which alleged a scheme to conceal $47 million paid to Wiederhorn. The government also filed a separate motion to dismiss a case against Wiederhorn in which he was charged with possessing a firearm and ammunition despite his previous felony convictions.
In a press release announcing the case against Wiederhorn, Fat Brands, Inc., Amon and Hershinger last year, then-U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said the allegations involved Wiederhorn using the company “as his personal slush fund,” while an IRS official said the allegations showed Wiederhorn was a “serial tax cheat.” Fat Brands, Widerhorn, Amon and Hershinger had all pleaded not guilty last year.
The motion to dismiss the federal case came months after Trump supporter and right-wing activist Laura Loomer and others called on the president to fire Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Schefier, the lead prosecutor on the Fat Brands case, highlighting anti-Trump comments he made during a previous, unsuccessful bid for Congress as a Democrat. Schleifer was fired in March.
While many recent dismissals of career federal prosecutors have come from Attorney General Pam Bondi, Schleifer was fired in an email from the White House Presidential Personnel Office.
A former veteran of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said it was “bizarre” and “insane” for the White House to be firing career prosecutors.
Wiederhorn donated almost $19,000 to Trump and Republican causes in the 2024 cycle, as noted by Bloomberg Law.
“From day one, we have maintained Andy’s innocence,” Wiederhorn attorney Nick Hanna of the law firm Gibson Dunn said in a statement. “We are extremely grateful that the U.S. Attorney’s Office listened to our arguments and determined, in the interests of justice, that all charges should be dropped.”
Douglas Fuchs, another lawyer for Wiederhorn, said the government took the “appropriate step” in dismissing the case and that “this is a case with no victims, no losses, and no crimes.”
Wiederhorn said he was “grateful to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for taking a fresh look at this case and to the attorneys who worked tirelessly on my behalf and on behalf of the other defendants” and that he looked “forward to focusing on the continued growth and success of FATBrands.”
The unopposed motion to dismiss the case against all defendants was signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Reidy and names Interim U.S. Attorney Bilal Essayli, who has been vocal about his support for Trump’s agenda on social media and in media appearances.
Fat Brands owns a number of restaurant brands, including Fatburger, Johnny Rockets and Twin Peaks.