A February 2018 indictment by the
United States Justice Department alleged that Concord Management and Consulting began operations in 2014 with the intention to financially support a group known as the
Internet Research Agency which
interfered with the
2016 United States presidential election won by
Donald Trump. An initial hearing was in May 2018. On Friday, 16 November,
The Hill reported a U.S. Federal Judge upholding
Robert Mueller's indictment. Hearings continued throughout the year and into 2019. A trial date was set for April 1, 2020 but as of March 2, 2020 the court is facing delays in the production of documents needed before trial by attorneys for both Concord and the Department of Justice. The charges against Concord Management and Consulting were dismissed
with prejudice on March 16, 2020. Prosecutors complained that Concord did not submit all information required by the court and going to trial could reveal US investigative "tools and techniques". They added that the US government would have been unable to present some evidence to the court because that would compromise classified material. Concord defense lawyer Eric Dubelier suggested that the indictment was political and said the "evidence was completely devoid of any information that could establish that the defendants knew what they were doing was in violation of highly complex US laws and regulations".
The Financial Times described the indictment as "a rare mis-step by Mr Mueller", because indicting a corporate entity allowed Concord "to obtain case information, taunt the US in federal court and go to trial with little fear of the repercussions that an individual would face". US prosecutors said the US government would still pursue individual charges against Prigozhin. ==References==