A federal appeals court in D.C. was asked Tuesday to hear a lawsuit brought against former special counsel Robert Mueller by conservative author and conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi.
Larry Klayman, a conservative activist and attorney representing Mr. Corsi, filed a notice of appeal challenging a lower court judge’s recent decision to dismiss their complaint.
Mr. Corsi, 73, announced late last year that he was questioned as part of the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections. He subsequently sued Mr. Mueller and multiple government agencies in a $350 million civil suit filed in D.C. federal court, alleging various claims that defendants’ lawyers pushed back as being “patently frivolous” and based on “pure speculation.”
District Court Judge Ellen Huvelle dismissed the suit on October 31, and Mr. Corsi said afterward that he was willing to appeal if necessary “all the way to the Supreme Court.” His lawyer’s latest filing is the next step in that process.
Mr. Corsi has said that he was questioned by investigations about his interactions during the 2016 race with Roger Stone, President Trump’s former election campaign adviser who is currently on trial for related charges. He alleged in the civil suit that Mr. Mueller’s team demanded that he provide false testimony, and that they subjected him to “illegal, unconstitutional surveillance” undertaken in conjunction with a number of different intelligence agencies.
In a separate court filing entered in their own case Tuesday, Mr. Stone’s lawyers said their client communicated with Mr. Corsi throughout the campaign regarding topics including the release of stolen Democratic documents during the race by the website WikiLeaks. They denied that Mr. Corsi or anyone else acted as an intermediary between Mr. Stone and WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, however.
Mr. Stone, 67, is among 34 individuals, including a handful of former Trump campaign officials, indicted as a result of the special counsel’s investigation. His defense lawyers rested their case Tuesday afternoon.
The Justice Department did not immediately return a message requesting comment on Mr. Corsi’s appeal. Mr. Mueller stopped being special counsel when the probe ended months ago.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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