Lawyer for Russian Trolls Quotes Animal House in Defense
In what one could perhaps call a sign of the strange times we live in, a lawyer was reprimanded in court for, um, some unconventional citations that were used in a legal defense. Eric Dubelier is representing Concord Management and Consulting, a Russian company indicted in the Mueller probe for allegedly funding troll farms in its home country, and for some reason decided that quoting Animal House would be an effective way to convince the District of Columbia judge that Mueller’s office is conducting itself inappropriately. In actual court documents, Dubelier accuses Mueller’s team of making up making up crimes that have never been prosecuted, as well as “secret procedures,” before quoting Eric “Otter” Stratton to illustrate the special counsel’s legal overreach.
The Special Counsel also states that if simply trusting him that everything is just peachy is not sufficient, he can tell more ex parte secrets to the Court to support his position. The Special Counsel’s argument is reminiscent of Otter’s famous line, “Flounder, you can’t spend your whole life worrying about your mistakes! You f**ked up … you trusted us. Hey, make the best of it.”
If you think it’s weird to see “Animal House (Universal Pictures 1978)” in the footnotes of a court filing for United States of America v. Concord Management and Consulting, Judge Dabney Friedrich agrees with you. According to BuzzFeed court reporter Zoe Tillman, the judge told Dubelier his tactic of trying to wholly discredit the special investigator’s office was “unprofessional, inappropriate, and ineffective” and that it is “undermining your credibility in this courthouse.” Tillman tweeted highlights from the exchange between Dubelier and the judge, which ended with the courtroom being closed to the public.
Some fireworks in court this morning as a judge criticized the lawyer representing Concord Management & Consulting in the special counsel Russian troll farm case for his language and harsh words about Mueller's office in filings — "unprofessional, inappropriate, and ineffective"
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) January 7, 2019The judge told attorney Eric Dubelier that his strategy was "ineffective" and that his approach to filings — including pop culture quotes (see: https://t.co/1D4TMV2sQF) and accusing Mueller's office basically of lawlessness — was "undermining your credibility in this courthouse" pic.twitter.com/XeNM8jWbFk
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) January 7, 2019"Knock it off," Judge Dabney Friedrich told Dubelier. This then led to a heated exchange where Dubelier said he needed to consult his client since the judge had accused of unprofessional conduct, and now there might be bias from the judge. There's no bias, the judge replied.
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) January 7, 2019Dubelier pushed back, saying the judge had personally attacked him, and Friedrich replied by saying he had made personal attacks on Mueller's office. Dubelier said he was just telling the truth
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) January 7, 2019How did this end? The judge agreed Dubelier could have time to consult with his client (Concord). She ordered the defense and the govt to sit down and discuss discovery-related issues — Dubelier said they'd tried, and the govt just said no, Friedrich said they needed to try again
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) January 7, 2019The judge then closed the courtroom to discuss an issue that relates to a grand jury matter, so it's sealed, but Dubelier left the courtroom less than five minutes later. He declined to answer questions
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) January 7, 2019 Lawyer for Russian Trolls Quotes Animal House in DefensencG1vNJzZmivp6x7t8HLrayrnV6YvK57kWlocmdgZnytrdaynKtllqS%2Fbr7UrKqimZ5iwbO7y6WqZqmlpMGmv4yapaKlkaF6qbvUrJxmoZ5isaayxKeqnmaYqbqt