Special Counsel Robert Mueller has had to share government information with Concord Management and Consulting's defense team as the indicted Russian firm owned by Putin's chef fights the charges against it in court.
Today, the special counsel's team filed a document explaining why it should not have to turn over additional, sensitive information, which Concord wants to send to Russia "for review by company officers and employees."
Mueller's filing reveals someone on the Russian side appears to have leaked the non-public discovery shared so far and has used it in an attempt to discredit the Russia probe.
CNN:
"Certain non-sensitive discovery materials in the defense's possession appear to have been altered and disseminated as part of a disinformation campaign aimed (apparently) at discrediting ongoing investigations into Russian interference in the U.S. political system," prosecutors wrote.
The documents -- though they did not contain sensitive information that could harm American national security -- should have never reached the public's view, the prosecutors said.
CNBC:
The special counsel said that Concord should not be given such sensitive material because of alleged misuse in October by an unknown party of "non-sensitive" materials already in Concord's possession as a result of the normal discovery process that litigants use to share information during a court case.
Mueller said that "sensitive" materials identifies individuals and entities that have not been criminally charged, but whom "the government believes are continuing to engage in operations that interfere with lawful U.S. government functions like those activities charged in the indictment."
The special counsel's office said that the online account used to publish the discovery materials was registered by a user with an internet address who resides in Russia. The FBI has found no evidence that U.S. government servers, including ones used by Mueller's office, had been hacked.
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The special counsel said that, "On October 22, 2018, the newly created Twitter account @HackingRedstone published the following tweet: 'We've got access to the Special Counsel Mueller's probe database as we hacked Russian server with info from the Russian troll case Concord LLC v. Mueller. You can view all the files Mueller had about the IRA and Russian collusion. Enjoy the reading!'"
The HackingRedstone account since has been suspended.
Mueller noted that the names and other details on that webpage "significantly match the non-public names and file structure of the materials produced in discovery."
That, "and the fact that over 1,000 files on the webpage match those produced in discovery, establish that the person(s) who created the webpage had access to at least some of the non-sensitive discovery produced by the government in this case," Mueller said in his filing.
And the filing added, "The fact that the webpage contained numerous irrelevant files suggest that the person who created the webpage used their knowledge of the non-sensitive discovery to make it appear as though the irrelevant files contained on the webpage were the sum total evidence of 'IRA and Russian collusion' gathered by law enforcement in this matter in an apparent effort to discredit the investigation."
CNN:
"Concord's request to send the sensitive discovery to the Russian Federation unreasonably risks the national security interests of the United States," prosecutors wrote. "Moreover, consistent with the apparent pro-Russian aim of the tweet, to the extent that the individuals who created the webpage reside outside the United States, this contravention is likely to go unpunished."
The 13 Russians indicted alongside Concord have not appeared in US court, and they cannot be extradited by international authorities.
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Sharing sensitive information in the case among the Russians related to it should be forbidden by the judge, the Justice Department writes. The judge has kept the sensitive information in the case locked down so far, so the American lawyers involved can see it only in special circumstances.
Concord argues that it needs to be able to share more information in the case among more people, including Russians and Prigozhin, to prepare for trial.