U.S. lawyers representing Vladimir Putin's chef's company, Concord Consulting and Management LLC, are arguing Special Counsel Robert Mueller has brought charges against their client simply because he has to blame someone of wrongdoing in order to justify his job.
The Justice Department, attorneys Eric Dubelier and Kate Seikaly wrote in a motion filed in federal court in Washington Monday, has "licensed a Special Counsel who for all practical political purposes cannot be fired, to indict a case that has absolutely nothing to do with any links or coordination between any candidate and the Russian Government."
"The reason is obvious, and is political: to justify his own existence the Special Counsel has to indict a Russian — any Russian," they added.
The motion claims Mueller has charged Concord with a "make-believe crime of conspiring to 'interfere' in a United States election."
Aside from serving as a vehicle to attack the prosecution, the new motion complains that Mueller's case against the firm is legally flawed because it fails to allege that the company acted "willfully" in violating U.S. law. Typically, criminal election law violations require proof that the defendant knew about the legal requirement and intentionally ignored or evaded it.
In the filing, Concord's attorneys suggested that prosecutors are trying to dodge that rule, noting that DOJ had indicted a foreign firm "with no presence in the United States" for not complying with "certain regulatory requirements that are unknown even to most Americans."
Dubelier and Seikaly asked U.S. District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich to require prosecutors to turn over records showing whether grand jurors who returned the indictment were told of the willfulness requirement.
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Concord Management's decision to appear in the case through American attorneys was unexpected and seems intended to force prosecutors to turn over details on what evidence supports the charges. Some legal experts believe prosecutors will dismiss the firm from the case, rather than provide that information or hold a trial where no human defendant will appear.
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Dubelier and Seikaly appeared last week before a federal magistrate judge to enter a formal not-guilty plea for the company. Prosecutors asked Friedrich to put off that hearing, but she declined. The first hearing in front of Friedrich is set for Wednesday.
Russian firm accused of funding U.S. election trolling disputes Mueller charge (Politico)