US Evidence in Concord Management Case 'Altered, Disseminated' - Mueller

US special counsel Robert Mueller's office said that the evidence in its case against Russian company Concord Management, which is charged with attempting to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election, was "altered and disseminated" after being given to Concord's defense team during discovery, a US court filing revealed Wednesday.

Last year, the US Justice Department said that the United States had indicted 13 Russian nationals and three entities, including Concord Management and Consulting LLC, for allegedly trying to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election. Moscow has denied all claims of alleged meddling. The firm's lawyers have made several attempts to appeal the charges, but the defendant's motions were dismissed.

The national security interests of the United States would be jeopardized if the Russian company Concord Management is allowed to share with Russia sensitive evidence in a criminal case against the firm, Mueller said in a new court filing on Wednesday.

"Concord's request to send the sensitive discovery* to the Russian Federation unreasonably risks the national security interests of the United States", Mueller said in a document filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. Discovery is the process through which prosecutors and defense attorneys share and obtain evidence from each other in a legal case.

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In his court filing, Mueller also alleged that evidence Concord's defense attorneys obtained through discovery was apparently "altered and disseminated as part of a disinformation campaign aimed (apparently) at discrediting ongoing investigations into Russian interference in the US political system".

Mueller has indicted Concord Management and others as part of his investigation into allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 US election.

Mueller is probing allegations of election interference as well as accusations that US President Donald Trump's campaign team colluded with Moscow to affect the outcome of the vote.

Russian officials have repeatedly denied allegations of interference, calling the accusations groundless and invented to provide an excuse for the election loss of the Democratic candidate and deflect public opinion from actual instances of election fraud, corruption and other pressing concerns.

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Trump has also denied any collusion between himself and the Kremlin and has called Mueller's investigation a witch hunt that has produced no evidence of collusion in well over a year.

Acting US Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said Monday that Mueller's investigation into the allegations is close to being completed.