U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump appointee, has ruled in favor of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, saying he had the right to indict Concord Management and Consulting LLC, Putin's chef's company, for its role in 2016 election interference. Concord was arguing the special counsel did not identify a specific crime.
The ruling on Thursday marked the second time the same judge had refused to dismiss charges against Concord. In their first attempt, Concord’s lawyers had argued that Mueller was illegally appointed and lacked prosecutorial authority.
Their latest attempt turned on more technical legal arguments related to whether prosecutors adequately met the legal burden to charge the company with conspiring to defraud the United States and whether the indictment properly alleged the firm willfully violated the law, among other things.
“Concord’s concerns amount to a single attack: that the government has charged Concord based on conduct that is not illegal,” Friedrich wrote in her opinion.
“But Concord cannot escape the fact that the course of deceptive conduct alleged is illegal.”
Concord lawyer Eric Dubelier argued prosecutors didn’t accuse Concord of willfully violating U.S. laws, contending it showed a lack of criminal intent. The judge disagreed, stating it was enough that the indictment show that the company knew it was impairing the lawful functions of the Federal Election Commission, Department of Justice or Department of State.
"Concord goes too far in asserting that the special counsel must also show that Concord knew with specificity ‘how the relevant laws described those functions,’" Friedrich said in her 32-page ruling. "At this stage, the government has alleged the requisite intent and no more is required."
Concord is owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose primary business is catering and who is known as "Putin’s chef."
Mueller Scores a Win in Prosecution of ‘Putin Chef’s’ Business (Bloomberg Politics)
U.S. judge refuses Russian firm's bid to dismiss Mueller indictment (Reuters)