U.S. Supreme Court Requires Foreign State-Owned Corporation to Comply With Contempt Order in Mueller Investigation

As discussed in Cleary Gottlieb’s December 21, 2018 Alert Memorandum, on December 18, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an important ruling in In re Grand Jury Subpoena, holding, inter alia, that foreign state-owned corporations are subject to criminal jurisdiction in the United States and upholding Special Counsel Mueller’s authority to serve and enforce a grand jury subpoena on a sovereign entity.

The foreign state-owned corporation subsequently sought a stay of enforcement of the contempt order from the Supreme Court, which Chief Justice Roberts granted.  This Alert Memorandum focuses on two key developments that took place on January 8, 2019.  First, the Supreme Court, voting as a whole, lifted the administrative stay previously entered by Chief Justice Roberts.  Second, the D.C. Circuit Court issued its full, albeit partially redacted, opinion, which provides additional reasoning for the panel’s decision, seeks to reconcile any purported conflict with rulings issued by other Circuit Courts on the legal question at hand, and focuses on the state owned nature of the entity involved.