A Judge Told The Defense In The Russian Troll Far

Quote:

---

A Judge Told The Defense In The Russian Troll Farm Case To "Knock It Off" With Attacks On Mueller


Source: BuzzFeed News

The federal judge handling special counsel Robert Mueller's prosecution of Russian entities and individuals accused of meddling in the 2016 election told the defense on Monday to "knock it off" with attacks on Mueller's office.

Since prosecutors filed charges of election interference in February, the lead attorney for defendant Concord Management and Consulting, Eric Dubelier, has used strong, and at times pop culture-laden, language in his pleadings.

The rebuke from US District Judge Dabney Friedrich came three days after Dubelier filed court papers that questioned the trustworthiness of Mueller's office.

Dubelier compared the government's arguments to a line from the movie Animal House: "Flounder, you can't spend your whole life worrying about your mistakes! You f**ked up ... you trusted us. Hey, make the best of it."


Friedrich, who set Monday's hearing roughly two hours after Concord's latest filing appeared on the docket Friday, was not amused. Concord's recent filings were "unprofessional, inappropriate, and ineffective," Friedrich told Dubelier, and the defense's "relentless personal attacks" on the special counsel's office and others involved in the case would not play a role in her decision.

"It's undermining your credibility in this courthouse," Friedrich said.

Read more: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetillm...ler-lawyer

And from the Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-is...ea7afc46a9

A federal judge on Monday sharply criticized the U.S.-based attorney for a Russian company indicted in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation, and the attorney fired back that the judge showed "bias" against him.

The fiery exchange threatens to complicate the already complex prosecution of Concord Management and Consulting, which was indicted in February along with its owner, Russian businessman Yevgeniy Prigozhin, and other Russian individuals and companies. They are accused of financing and overseeing a social media operation to disrupt the 2016 U.S. election.

Concord's defense team had asked a court to rule on its demand to share with Prigozhin -- known as "Putin's chef" because of his close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin -- millions of pages of evidence turned over by Mueller prosecutors.

Under a court protective order, sensitive evidence in the case must be reviewed first by a U.S. government "firewall" counsel before being released to any non-U.S. national, including co-defendant Prigozhin, in part because of his alleged ties to Russian intelligence.

SNIP

Friedrich, who said last year she would reconsider the question of sharing evidence with Prigozhin when the case was further along, scheduled a hearing for March 7 to do so.

And from Twitter:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1082317915528007681.html

Some fireworks in court this morning as a judge criticized the lawyer representing Concord Management & Consulting in the special counsel Russian troll farm case for his language and harsh words about Mueller's office in filings -- "unprofessional, inappropriate, and ineffective"

The judge told attorney Eric Dubelier that his strategy was "ineffective" and that his approach to filings -- including pop culture quotes (see: assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5676...) and accusing Mueller's office basically of lawlessness -- was "undermining your credibility in this courthouse"

SNIP

---