Out-Trolled: DOJ, Sick Of Russian Firm’s Antics, Bails On Its Own Election Meddling Case | Talking Points Memo

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The two years of fractious proceedings were a lesson in the downside of engaging with the trolls.

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1297829
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This ain’t over, we’ll get them. Vlad is not having such a good time with the out break over there either. And we’re not the only country that is pissed off at the Kremlin.

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Dealing with trolls should take the same course as when dealing with toddlers. Pick your fights wisely and always, but always win them decisively. The DOJ had options to shut it down and convict but let the trolls decide the rules of the game. The trolls will troll. What did you think that they would do? I’m calling this another lowBarr mis-administration calculated plan for convenient failure.

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I’m sorry but this is WAY PAST ‘every person deserves a defense’…what ‘kind’ of American lawyer would defend a country that wanted to screw with our Democracy? Really?

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Can this be re-taken up by a future DoJ, within the statute of limitation, or does this dismissal preclude that? I’d hate to see Trump get away with such egregious obstruction.

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Way to go Reed Smith. Your country thanks you. There may well be a lot more billable hours on the way from your new Russian friends.

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Why would I be surprised that Re-Barr would let these scumbags walk? National Security? Or, more likely, covering somebody’s ample-ass collusion with Russia in the 2016 election?

It’s a COVID-up.

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To be fair, the gov’t didn’t lose this case at trial or in court - it was lost before it even started, way back when we let Donald Trump become president and select his own, and his allies’s, prosecutors.

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They weren’t out-trolled. Barr had Trump classify something to remove a lynch-pin and collapse the case.

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DOJ might be out-trolled BUT this is Coverup Barr helping Putin and Trump again under the radar of a pandemic!

This is not the only BAD action(s) that the Trump/DOJ is having under Coverup Barr during this pandemic = Cut food Stamp! How cruel is that! For now, Court is blocking this cruelty!

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Mueller’s team obtained this indictment for the sake of informing the public about how clearly we understood the Russian election interference. None of the defendants were within the jurisdiction of the United States, so none of them faced any actual risk of criminal conviction or punishment unless they were stupid enough to travel somewhere with an extradition treaty.

I can pretty much guarantee that nobody on the Mueller team thought for half a second that the corporate defendants would lawyer up, appear, and pretend to defend the case for the sake of screwing with the investigation and gaining discovery on what the feds had and how they had acquired it. And practically speaking, the attorney fees were the only downside to that strategy. The U.S. has zero ability to enforce criminal sanctions against companies that aren’t operating in the U.S.

That said, I am deeply, deeply suspicious of the last-minute “classification change” that led to the feds seeking dismissal. It’s reasonable to suspect that this trial would have exposed more bad conduct by the Trump gang, and I would not be at all surprised if the prosecutors had their evidence kneecapped by Bill Barr.

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I bet Reed Smith staff is really proud of their work to defend foreign corruptors of our democracy. Great job, everyone. You really got some billable hours there.

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That rings true, but please provide documentation

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Read the prosecutors’ excuse they filed. It’s all about something being newly classified and therefore collapsing their case.

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The depth and breadth of traitors within this country is being revealed piece by piece. No matter what, exposure and disposal of this incredibly malignant and destructive movement is a must for humanity.

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I’d like to see the tRump maladministration try to appeal this during a national emergency, health crisis, pandemic and an election year. Bad, bad ‘optics’ as they say in the news biz.

Will they do it anyway? Probably.

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I thought DOJ only dropped the money laundering charge.

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There’s principles, and then there is sheer greed posing as principles.

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perhaps someone who thought not providing a defense would be screwing with our democracy?

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Can there be consequences for the lawyers who enabled this disaster?