Indicted Russian Firm Leaps Into Contempt-Order Appeal

WASHINGTON (CN) - A Russian firm charged with conspiracy pushed Wednesday to have a say in a separate case where the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller is being assailed by a longtime aide to Trump confidante Roger Stone.

Andrew Miller made Mueller’s appointment the basis of his appeal after a federal judge found him in contempt on Aug. 10 for refusing to produce documents subpoenaed by the Mueller grand jury.

As the case heads to the D.C. Circuit, Concord Management and Consulting LLC brought a motion Wednesday to intervene.

Charged by Mueller for allegedly funding one of the Russian troll farms that supported the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton,

Concord had made the constitutionality of Mueller’s appointment a central point of its own motion to dismiss.

After a federal judge rejected that effort on Aug. 13, Concord moved Wednesday to intervene in Miller’s appeal.

Not exactly out of place in the parallel case, Concord’s name came up both in Miller’s pleadings to quash his subpoena, where he attached Concord's motion as an exhibit, and in the 93-page ruling against Miller by Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell.

Represented by the firm Reed Smith, Concord told the D.C. Circuit Wednesday that its arguments play a central role in Miller's case.

"This appeal presents the substantial likelihood that this Court will resolve the lawfulness and constitutionality of the Special Counsel's appointment and issue a ruling with stare decisis effect for future panels of this court," the 20-page motion says.

Calling it "inevitable" that its own arguments will be addressed in Miller's appeal, Reed Smith attorney James Martin argued that the outcome would directly impact Concord's "constitutional right to have a lawfully appointed prosecutor in its own case."

Owned by indicted Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, a caterer whose connections to the Russian president have earned him the nickname “Putin’s chef,” Concord was indicted in February along with two other Russian companies and 13 Russians. The company remains the only named defendant to respond to Mueller’s charges.

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