$2.25 million fine

Mystery firm racks up $2.25 million fine in Mueller probe

By JOSH GERSTEIN

The foreign-linked mystery company fighting to avoid handing over records demanded by special counsel Robert Mueller appears to have incurred a fine of $2.25 million as it presses its legal fight, according to court records released on Thursday.

The $50,000-a-day penalty a federal judge imposed on the foreign-government-owned firm continues to grow and might be boosted to accrue at a higher rate in the future, one court order made public indicates.

Chief U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell determined that the daily penalty began being assessed on Jan. 15. In an order that she issued that day, she also noted that the government was “reserving the right to request escalation of the contempt fines.”

Lawyers for the mystery firm have mounted an aggressive and as-yet-unsuccessful legal battle against the grand jury subpoena in dispute, arguing that because the company is entirely owned by a foreign government it should not be subject to subpoena in a U.S. criminal investigation. The company also contends that it would be breaking the foreign country’s laws by complying with the subpoena.

Howell rejected those arguments in September, prompting the company to appeal to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which held arguments under unusual secrecy in December before rebuffing the firm. The company then won a temporary stay of the contempt order from Chief Justice John Roberts, but the Supreme Court dissolved the stay last month.

For the time being, there appears to have been no movement by Mueller’s office to collect the fine. While the courts have upheld the U.S. grand jury’s authority to subpoena the company, the court orders released on Thursday show that Howell turned down the firm’s request for a ruling that it’s immune from having funds seized to cover the penalty. She ruled that issue premature until Mueller actually takes action to get the money.

The newly disclosed court files also show that until recently, both sides in the case were under a broad gag order from Howell requiring them to respond with a “no comment” to any inquiries about the matter. She later relaxed the order to limit them to confirming matters already part of public dockets and court rulings in the case.

The still-unidentified company, meantime, continues to urge the Supreme Court to take up the issue by formally granting review of the case. In a brief on Wednesday, the firm’s attorneys complain that the subpoena is an assault on the “sovereign dignity” of the country involved. They also again warned the justices that the U.S. would face “a foreign-policy nightmare” if the company were forced to comply with the subpoena, because foreign governments will make similar demands on U.S. entities overseas.

A decision from the Supreme Court on whether to formally accept the case is likely in the next month.