Mystery foreign company possibly tied to Mueller investigation subpoenaed

Days after a floor of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit courthouse was put on lockdown due to an argument shrouded in mystery, three circuit judges ruled Tuesday that a corporation owned by a foreign country must turn over information in a grand jury subpoena battle. The federal appeals court ruled late Tuesday that the “the Corporation” owned by “Country A” must comply with the grand jury subpoena.

The three-page ruling said that the company had sought to squash the subpoena because it is “immune under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act” and because the subpoena would “require the Corporation to Violate Country A’s domestic law.” However, “[t]he district court denied the motion,” says the ruling, signed by Judges David S. Tatel, Thomas B. Griffith, and Stephen F. Williams. The subpoena is suspected to be related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference.

The grand jury case was put on the docket in October, but CNN witnessed several lawyers from Mueller’s office going into the courtroom as early as early September. The courtroom involved an unknown defense team and a trial-level judge who oversees federal grand jury-related cases. In mid-October, Politico broke the story that Mueller’s team was brought into court by a witness battling a subpoena and only discovered the connection to Mueller’s probe after overhearing a man request a document in the case from the special counsel’s office.

On Friday, judges Tatel, Griffith, and Williams took a recess after hearing an immigration-related case, and then the floor of the courthouse where the appeals court is located went into lockdown. Only law clerks were allowed to stay behind. No one saw anyone from Mueller’s office or any other lawyers from a possible defense coming in and out of the building. However, CNN reported that after court activity appeared to end for the day, a black Justice Department car returned to Mueller’s office in Washington, carrying lawyers Michael Dreeben and Zainab Ahmad. Mueller took over the Russia investigation in May 2017 and has so far brought criminal counts against more than 30 people and three Russian entities, producing more than 100 criminal charges.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/judge-rules-mystery-company-owned-by-foreign-country-must-comply-with-grand-jury-subpoena-suspected-of-being-part-of-muellers-investigation