(03-19-2020, 03:27 PM)JagNGeorgia Wrote:

(03-19-2020, 01:57 PM)mikesez Wrote: That doesn't follow.
The individuals (almost certainly) broke federal law.  Whether or not a legal procedure takes place now doesn't change the fact of what they did then.
But because they enjoy the protection of Russia, they can not be tried in US courts.  Russia could argue that US law doesn't apply to these people, but the US would argue it does.  
Treaties between the US and Russia would have to set the venue, procedures, and applicable laws for any trial.

You said federal court isn't the right venue. Is it the correct venue except that Russia is shielding them from prosecution or is it the wrong venue and they shouldn't have been charged? How is Russia protecting them, BTW? They showed up to court. The court proceedings didn't take place because the prosecution voluntarily dropped the charges. Existing treaties already establish rules for these instances. The government isn't going to negotiate where these crimes would be prosecuted. They have jurisdiction or they don't. 

Governments can negotiate the extradition of foreign nationals based on applicable laws but that isn't happening here.

A defendant in the US system has the right to discover or subpoena anything related to the charges they face. Russia's government pretty clearly intended to use that right to discover our spies and their secrets. US federal courts were not designed to cope with that. A special tribunal would have to be set up if they wanted to pursue these charges further.

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