Judge Dabney Friedrich, in an opinion filed in the U.S. District
court for the District of Columbia, rejected an argument by the
company, Concord Management and Consulting LLC, that Mueller was
unlawfully appointed and lacked prosecutorial authority.
"By investigating and prosecuting Concord, the Special Counsel
did not exceed his authority," Friedrich wrote in her opinion.
She also rejected the company's argument that Deputy Attorney
General Rod Rosenstein, acting on behalf of Attorney General
Jeff Sessions after his recusal, was out of bounds in bringing
in Mueller to investigate the alleged Russian meddling.
Concord's lawyers, who did not immediately respond to a request
for comment on Monday, had argued that Rosenstein violated the
Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution in hiring Mueller
in May 2017. Friedrich ruled that U.S. Supreme Court and circuit
court rulings made clear Rosenstein did have statutory authority
to bring in Mueller.
Prosecutors contend Concord is controlled by Evgeny Prigozhin, a
businessman identified by Russian media as being close to
Russian President Vladimir Putin and who U.S. officials have
said has extensive ties to Russia’s military and political
establishment.
The company is one of three entities, along with 13 Russian
individuals, indicted by the special counsel's office in an
alleged criminal and espionage conspiracy to tamper with the
2016 U.S. election, boost Trump and disparage his Democratic
opponent, Hillary Clinton.
Russia has denied any involvement. Trump has said there was no
collusion and blasted the investigation by Mueller, a fellow
Republican, as a "witch hunt."
(Reporting by Tim Ahmann and Susan Heavey; Editing by Bill
Trott)
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