Judge appoints ‘firewall’ counsel to review Mueller documents for sensitive information

A judge agreed to appoint an independent “firewall” lawyer to review pretrial evidence related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s case against Russians accused of interfering in the 2016 presidential election.

The evidence will be screened for possible national security issues before it is turned over to a Kremlin-linked defendant, Bloomberg News reported Monday.

{mosads}U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich approved the request for the counsel because Mueller is concerned with providing evidence to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a wealthy Russian businessman and longtime associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Department of Justice’s legal team warned against Prigozhin gaining access to “sensitive” evidence.

That evidence would include details about the government’s investigation, identities of people and companies that are cooperating and personal information on Americans who were victims of identity theft, the outlet noted.

Prigozhin and his firm, Concord Management and Consulting LLC, were indicted as part of Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Concord, through attorney Eric Dubelier, pleaded not guilty to one count of defrauding the U.S. government. It is the only Russian entity — out of three — to respond to the charges filed by Mueller’s team earlier this year.

The company provides food services to the Kremlin, and Putin reportedly frequents other restaurants Prigozhin owns.

The Russian businessman has been dubbed “Putin’s chef.”