Russian firm charged in election interference case pleads not guilty

Brad Heath | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — One of the Russian companies indicted for what special counsel Robert Mueller alleged was a wide-ranging scheme to undermine the 2016 elections pleaded not guilty on Wednesday and said through its lawyer that it planned to contest the charges.

Mueller's office charged in February that 13 Russian nationals and three businesses sought to meddle in the election election by posing as Americans, launching social media campaigns to pick at Americans' political division and staging rallies. The operation, prosecutors said, was aimed at "spreading distrust toward the candidates and the political system," and in particular at "supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J. Trump."

None of the charges had been expected to go anywhere because the companies and all of the individuals charged over the scheme are Russian. But on Wednesday, one of them, Concord Management and Consulting, LLC, dispatched a pair of lawyers to federal court in Washington to plead not guilty to the charges. One of the lawyers, Eric Dubelier, said Concord would "exercise our right to a speedy trial."

The two other companies and 13 individuals indicted along with Concord did not appear. Mueller's office has said in court filings that the Russian government has not cooperated with their efforts to serve summonses on them. "The government would be thrilled if they were here," one of Mueller's prosecutors, Jeannie Rhee, said on Wednesday.

Concord and the other businesses charged in the case are tied to Yevgeny Prigozhin, known as Russian president Vladimir Putin's "chef" because of catering contracts he holds with the Russian government. Prigozhin was among the 13 individuals indicted in the case. He and the businesses were placed on a sanctions list by the Treasury Department in March.

Mueller's office said in a court filing last week that Concord's lawyers had already demanded that prosecutors turn over "sensitive intelligence gathering, national security, and foreign affairs information," including details on electronic surveillance of the company and its employees.

Partly in light of those demands, prosecutors asked the court to put off Concord's arraignment. U.S. District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich denied the request without explanation.

The charges against Concord and the other Russian entities were the first criminal charges tied directly to Russian interference in the 2016 election, the central focus of Mueller's investigation.

Mueller's office said the Russian campaign was clear about its objectives. In one internal memo prosecutors said the St. Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency told its employees to "use any opportunity to criticize Hillary and the rest (except Sanders and Trump - we support them)." In another, they said it is "imperative to intensify criticizing Hillary Clinton."