2016 ELECTION/JEFF SESSIONS/LEGAL/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A U.S. judge on Monday [8-13-18] backed Special Counsel Robert Mueller in the federal Russia investigation, allowing a case to proceed against a Russian company accused of helping fund a propaganda operation to sway the 2016 presidential election in Donald Trump’s favor. Judge Dabney Friedrich, in an opinion filed in the U.S. District court for the District of Columbia, rejected an argument by the company, Concord Management and Consulting LLC, that Mueller was unlawfully appointed and lacked prosecutorial authority. She also rejected the company’s argument that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, acting on behalf of Attorney General Jeff Sessions after his recusal, was out of bounds in bringing in Mueller to investigate the alleged Russian meddling. Concord’s lawyers, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday, had argued that Rosenstein violated the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution in hiring Mueller in May 2017. Friedrich ruled that U.S. Supreme Court and circuit court rulings made clear Rosenstein did have statutory authority to bring in Mueller.”
–Reuters Staff, “U.S. judge allows Mueller case against Russian company to proceed,” Reuters, August 13, 2018 6:49 am