Justice Department moves to drop charges against Russian shell companies indicted in Mueller probe

[homersapien 11,812]

The former special counsel warned that Russia had every intention of trying to interfere in the 2020 election

This article originally appeared on AlterNet.

A year has passed since former special counsel Robert Mueller delivered his final report for the Russia investigation, but Mueller's indictment of two shell companies accused of promoting Russian interference in the United States' 2016 presidential election remained. On Monday, March 16, however, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) moved to drop the federal charges the companies have been facing.

In 2018, Katie Benner and Sharon LaFraniere report in the Washington Post, Mueller's team "secured" an indictment against the Russian shell companies, Concord Management and Concord Consulting, as well as 13 Russians and the company Internet Research Agency. According to Benner and LaFraniere, Concord Management and Concord Consulting responded to the indictment differently than the others: rather than fighting the charges, the companies "seized on the case to obtain confidential information from prosecutors, then mount a campaign of information warfare, a senior Justice Department official said."

The case was set to go to trial in April, but according to that DOJ official, prosecutors pushed for dropping the case because they feared that sensitive information could be made public.

In a motion filed in federal court on March 16, prosecutors warned, "Concord has been eager and aggressive in using the judicial system to gather information about how the United States detects and prevents foreign election interference." The judge granted that motion.

However, DOJ prosecutors are asserting that dropping the charges against Concord Management and Concord Consulting isn't meant to bury Mueller's work in the Russia investigation — and have pointed out that the charges against the other defendants (including the Internet Research Agency) will remain.

When Mueller testified before Congress during the Summer of 2019, he warned that the Russian government under President Vladimir Putin had every intention of trying to interfere in the United States' 2020 presidential election. And many media outlets have reported that Putin and his allies would much rather see President Donald Trump reelected than see either Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont or former Vice President Joe Biden in the White House in 2021.

[AUFAN78 4,060]

http://hopelesslypartisan.com/remember-those-13-russians-indicted-during-the-mueller-witch-hunt/

[homersapien 11,812]

15 hours ago, AUFAN78 said:

http://hopelesslypartisan.com/remember-those-13-russians-indicted-during-the-mueller-witch-hunt/

LOL! Did you even read this? 

It's partisan BS:

 

REMEMBER THOSE 13 RUSSIANS INDICTED DURING THE MUELLER WITCH HUNT?

2020-03-17

by Ken Berwitz

 

Well, now you can forget them.

According to Michael Balsamo and Eric Tucker’s article for the Associated Press:

Prosecutors said they concluded that a trial, against a corporate defendant with no presence in the United States and no prospect of meaningful punishment even if convicted, would likely expose sensitive law enforcement tools and techniques, “potentially undermining their effectiveness.”

I have a simple, basic question to ask:  were the reasons this case is now dropped – quietly, years after the fact and after all the taxpayer money was spent on it – the same then as they are now?

No. Because the US Justice Department squelched these indictments because William Barr is a complete toady for Trump.  Remember his "summary" of the Mueller Report?  This is just a follow-up coming from the same perspective.  Barr wants to discredit or otherwise ignore Mueller's report and not pursuing these indictments is one way of doing it.

I ask because, if the situation was the same then as it is now, thus this was as much of a ridiculous prosecution then as it is now…

… then why the eff did they prosecute in the first place — other than to try and “sell” the Russian collusion story with no hope whatsoever of getting any testimonial evidence?

It's probably in the full unredacted, Mueller report - you know, the one which hasn't been released. 

And if that is what they did, was there any valid reason for the prosecution, the wasted time and the wasted money other than building public sentiment against President Trump based on thin air – exactly what this “investigation” was NOT supposed to be doing?

The idea that Mueller tried to trump up fake indictments against these individuals/companies in an effort to "get" Trump is ludicrous.

The Mueller “investigation” (witch hunt is more accurate) stunk from top to bottom, from inside to outside.  It did then and, as the above shows, it does just as much now.

Yeah, this is an unbiased article.      

[AUFAN78 4,060]

7 hours ago, homersapien said:

LOL! Did you even read this? 

It's partisan BS:

 

REMEMBER THOSE 13 RUSSIANS INDICTED DURING THE MUELLER WITCH HUNT?

2020-03-17

by Ken Berwitz

 

Well, now you can forget them.

According to Michael Balsamo and Eric Tucker’s article for the Associated Press:

Prosecutors said they concluded that a trial, against a corporate defendant with no presence in the United States and no prospect of meaningful punishment even if convicted, would likely expose sensitive law enforcement tools and techniques, “potentially undermining their effectiveness.”

I have a simple, basic question to ask:  were the reasons this case is now dropped – quietly, years after the fact and after all the taxpayer money was spent on it – the same then as they are now?

No. Because the US Justice Department squelched these indictments because William Barr is a complete toady for Trump.  Remember his "summary" of the Mueller Report?  This is just a follow-up coming from the same perspective.  Barr wants to discredit or otherwise ignore Mueller's report and not pursuing these indictments is one way of doing it.

I ask because, if the situation was the same then as it is now, thus this was as much of a ridiculous prosecution then as it is now…

… then why the eff did they prosecute in the first place — other than to try and “sell” the Russian collusion story with no hope whatsoever of getting any testimonial evidence?

It's probably in the full unredacted, Mueller report - you know, the one which hasn't been released. 

And if that is what they did, was there any valid reason for the prosecution, the wasted time and the wasted money other than building public sentiment against President Trump based on thin air – exactly what this “investigation” was NOT supposed to be doing?

The idea that Mueller tried to trump up fake indictments against these individuals/companies in an effort to "get" Trump is ludicrous.

The Mueller “investigation” (witch hunt is more accurate) stunk from top to bottom, from inside to outside.  It did then and, as the above shows, it does just as much now.

Yeah, this is an unbiased article.      

Bless your heart. Drink another.