Mueller signals outside prosecutors may take over Russian trolls case.

[triron]

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Anyone have access to WashPo?. I get nothing.

[Qutzupalotl]

1. some text

A handful of new federal prosecutors have joined one of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s cases — an indication that he is preparing to hand off at least one prosecution to others when his office completes its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

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People familiar with the staffing decision said the new prosecutors are not joining Mueller’s team, but rather are being added to the case so that they could someday take responsibility for it when the special counsel ceases operation. The case those prosecutors are joining could drag on for years because the indictment charges a number of Russians who will probably never see the inside of a U.S. courtroom. Russia does not extradite its citizens.

The development suggests Mueller is contemplating the end of his work and farming out any potentially outstanding prosecutions to other parts of the Justice Department.

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Meanwhile, attorneys with Mueller’s office have begun preparing in earnest for their first trial, the July prosecution of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort in the Eastern District of Virginia. On Friday, prosecutors asked Judge T.S. Ellis III in a filing to bar Manafort from challenging the motives or mandate of the Special Counsel’s Office, or from claiming — incorrectly, they say — that the bank- and tax-fraud charges Manafort faces were considered and rejected by the Justice Department before the Russia investigation began.

[EndGOPPropaganda]

2. Two American lawyers are taking Russian money to fight the United States.

https://abovethelaw.com/2018/05/the-biglaw-firm-behind-the-russian-trolls-indicted-in-the-mueller-probe/

These are the two lawyers hired by Russians in this case:

Concord Management has hired Reed Smith as their legal team. Partners Eric A. Dubelier (who according to his firm profile has a practice that focuses on international and domestic regulatory compliance and enforcement matters, white-collar criminal litigation, and civil false claims litigation) and Katherine J. Seikaly (her practice is in government and internal investigations, regulatory compliance and enforcement matters, and related litigation, with particular focus on the False Claims Act (FCA)) made their appearance on behalf of Concord Management last month. They’ve made a bunch of discovery requests seeking non-public information — and, as Politico reports, the requests seem to be a calculated move:

[T[he move appeared to be a bid to force Mueller’s team to turn over relevant evidence to the Russian firm and perhaps even to bait prosecutors into an embarrassing dismissal in order to avoid disclosing sensitive information.

Eric Dubelier: taking Russian money to fight against America:

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Kate Seikaly: taking Russian money to fight against America: