Judge Dabney Friedrich in July 2017 at the Senate committee hearing on her nomination to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. (Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)

A federal judge on Monday rejected a Russian firm's bid to escape charges brought by the special counsel, denying a challenge to the appointment of Robert Mueller III to lead the investigation into Moscow's meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

In a 41-page opinion, Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump administration nominee to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, struck down each of the arguments Concord Management and Consulting raised to contest Mueller's authority.

“The appointment does not violate core separation-of-powers principles,” Friedrich wrote. “Nor has the special counsel exceeded his authority under the appointment order by investigating and prosecuting Concord.”

Concord Management and Consulting was among the 16 Russian defendants charged with defrauding the federal government in an effort to sow discord within the U.S. electorate. So far, it is the only one of the 16 defendants that has answered to the special counsel's charges in Washington federal court.

Represented by defense lawyers from Reed Smith, Concord Management and Consulting argued that Mueller's had been unlawfully appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who took charge of the investigation into Russia's campaign interference following the recusal of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Concord also had challenged the indictment on the grounds that the investigation went outside the special counsel's mandate to probe “the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election,” along with links between that government and the Trump campaign.

Rejecting that argument, Friedrich found that the appointment handed the special counsel broader authority. She said the appointment order “does not limit the Special Counsel to investigating individuals and entities that are part of the Russian government. Rather, the special counsel may investigate the Russian government's interference “efforts,” which involved non-governmental third parties.”

Friedrich noted Rosenstein has the power to rescind at will the regulations that are allowing Mueller to lead the special counsel investigation. Rosenstein has given no indication that he intends to do so. Still, Friedrich wrote, “as a result, the special counsel is effectively removable at will, subject to the acting attorney general's plenary supervision, and thus an inferior officer.”

Friedrich joins the growing number of judges who have upheld Mueller's appointment and investigation as lawful. Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the DC District Court, overseeing the Mueller grand jury in Washington, recently rejected a challenge to Mueller's authority. She ordered a witness, Andrew Miller, an aide to Trump confidant Roger Stone, to testify at the grand jury. Friedrich, in her ruling, pointed to Howell's July 31 decision.

 

 

 

We've posted Friedrich's ruling below:

 

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