Former federal prosecutor Joseph Moreno on Monday said that courts do not appear to be convinced by the defense against criminal proceedings provided by an unnamed foreign company, which could be related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russia’s election interference.
“The courts have not been convinced,” Moreno told Hill.TV’s Krystal Ball on “Rising.”
“They say look, that deals with civil actions, that is a criminal subpoena, so no good there.”
Moreno’s comments come after the federal government on Friday filed a sealed response to a temporary pause the Supreme Court put on an order holding an unnamed, foreign government-owned company in contempt.
The unnamed company claims it was immune from criminal proceedings under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and that the subpoena was unenforceable because it would require “the Corporation” to violate “Country A’s” domestic law.
Some have speculated whether Mueller is involved in the case due to its secrecies and similarities to another Mueller subpoena.
Moreno went on to say the mystery company has offered up other defenses as well.
“Then it sounds like another defense has been ‘well, we’ll violate our own host country’s laws if we respond to this subpoena,’ ” he continued.
“China has a state’s secrets law, other countries have laws that protect the data of their companies and their citizens, however courts have not seemed like they’re impressed with that argument either,” he said. “So ultimately, it will come down to what the Supreme Court views as is this a legitimate subpoena and are there any other plausible defenses to refuse to produce whatever the information is … what appears to be [what] the special counsel’s office is looking for.”
— Julia Manchester
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