POLITICS FEBRUARY 27, 2020 / 4:50 PM / UPDATED 18 MINUTES AGO

U.S. judge mulls holding Russian firm linked to election meddling in contempt

Sarah N. Lynch
3 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge is weighing civil contempt charges against a Russian company accused of funding a Russian troll farm’s interference in the 2016 U.S. election to boost President Donald Trump’s candidacy after prosecutors accused the St. Petersburg-based firm of defying subpoenas to hand over documents.

Prosecutors have asked U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich to hold Concord Management and Consulting LLC - a company that prosecutors said is controlled by a businessman named Evgeny Prigozhin with ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin - in contempt. Friedrich on Thursday ordered company representatives to appear in court on Monday for a contempt hearing.

Prosecutors said in a court filing that Concord has ignored several subpoenas seeking documents such as corporate registration records, company internet IP addresses and other files relating to its officers.

Concord was charged in 2018 with conspiracy to defraud the United States for its role in election meddling aimed at sowing discord in the United States, helping Trump and harming his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller at the time charged 13 Russian individuals and three companies accused of engaging in “information warfare against the United States.”

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