Posted on 08/13/2018 7:43:41 AM PDT by yesthatjallen
A federal judge in Washington has rejected an effort a Russian company to dismiss charges brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller in his investigation into Russian interference in the election.
U.S. District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich, who was appointed by President Trump, on Monday denied the motion by Concord Management and Consulting LLC to dismiss the indictment on the grounds that Mueller was appointed unlawfully by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing the Russia investigation.
The company -- which has ties to Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin, a Russian businessman better known as “Putin’s chef” because of his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin – is accused of funding a Russian troll farm that used social media to sow discord among the American public in a broader plot to interfere in the election.
A U.S.-based attorney filed a motion in June asking the court to dismiss the charges, arguing that Rosenstein violated the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution when he tapped Mueller to spearheaded the Russia investigation in May 2017.
The clause allows the president to appoint “principal officers” who are then confirmed by the Senate and permits courts or departments to appoint “inferior officers” with the permission of Congress.
Lawyers for Concord Management and Consulting argued that Mueller’s appointment is unconstitutional because he does not qualify as either under the clause. They wrote that he was not appointed by the president to be a “principal officer” and there was “no statutory authorization” allowing Rosenstein to appoint Mueller as an inferior officer.
Friedrich struck down that argument on Monday.
“The Special Counsel is an inferior officer because he is directed and supervised by the Acting Attorney General,” Friedrich wrote, referring to Rosenstein, who took over the Russia investigation after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself.
“Although the Special Counsel regulations may not permit the Acting Attorney General to counterdemand certain decisions made by the Special Counsel, the Special Counsel remains subject to the Acting Attorney General’s plenary supervision,” the judge wrote.
“Second, Congress vested the Acting Attorney General with the power to appoint the Special Counsel,: Friedrich continued, citing past legal precedents that “make clear” Rosenstein, acting as attorney general with respect to the investigation, has the “necessary statutory authority” to appoint Mueller.
Attorneys for Concord and Mueller’s team have sparred over access to evidence and other matters since the company was indicted in February as part of the case against the St. Petersburg troll farm, called the Internet Research Agency.
The company, said to be controlled by Prigozhin, has pleaded not guilty to the charges through its attorneys.
There's no statement from the Mueller team they welcome this judgment.
Now Mueller has to continue pursing this case.
Good judge. Hehe...
Sounds like a waco ruling that desperately needs to be appealed.
Time will tell
The discovery documents that Russia can ask for should be fun.
When the "Discovery Phase" event occurs...look out!
But the political questions remain.
But the political questions remain.
Folks have to stop seeing the division as Dems vs Republicans. The division is deep state vs the rest of us. The uniparty is part of the deep state. Don't think for a minute that the RINOs are not cheering Mueller on.
Mueller has made an ass of himself and signed on for this deep state Kamikaze mission
The MSM will ignore him when he finally flames out, but in American history, he should rightly be viewed as a villain.
I cant disagree, but to the question you were replying to:
Will the investigation truly follow the evidence ....to the democrats?
the Dems commit crime in plain sight now. The RINO's are at least too embarrassed to be brazen about it.
While I have not read the actual opinion, the statements of the judge quoted in this article excerpt appear to show that the judge has improperly glossed over many material details in order to arrive at his constipated decision.
It may not survive a review by a higher court (which ought to be invited to correct this judge’s apparently erroneous interpretation of the law).
And I expect the Mueller team to commit numerous BRADY VIOLATIONS by hiding exculpatory evidence.
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