Judge hands defeat to Mueller team in Russian troll farm case

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Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team was handed a defeat Saturday when a judge rejected their request to postpone the first court hearing regarding charges against several Russian companies and Russian citizens that they charge with attempting to use social media to meddle in the 2016 election.

An arraignment was scheduled for Wednesday for Concord Management and Consulting, one of the three Russian companies Mueller accused of contributing to a Russian troll farm operation to spread discord online during the presidential contest.

Mueller's team asked for a delay on Friday because it was unclear whether the firm had formally accepted the court summons for the case, but U.S. District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich, an appointee of President Trump, denied that request in a brief order Saturday. No explanation was given for the decision, according to Politico.

Mueller's prosecutors on Friday revealed that two of Concord's attorneys made multiple discovery requests seeking nonpublic details related to the Russia investigation, an effort which had been included in the request to put the arraignment on hold.

In response to the request by Mueller's prosecutors, Concord's attorneys said the defendant "voluntarily appeared through counsel as provided for in [federal rules]" and denied any push to "quash" the summons. They also accused Mueller's team of not replying to all of the discovery requests and of attempting to "usurp the scheduling authority of the Court."

Concord has named in an indictment obtained by Mueller that was announced by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing Mueller’s probe, in February.

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