DC Circuit stays judge's order requiring release of Mueller grand jury documents to Congress
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A federal appeals court has stayed a judge’s order requiring the release of grand jury materials from the special counsel probe to Congress.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued the stay Tuesday, report Politico and the Washington Post.
The three-judge panel said it was issuing the administrative stay to give the court an opportunity to consider the Department of Justice’s emergency motion for a stay pending appeal.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ruled Friday that the DOJ must turn over the materials by Oct. 30. Howell ordered the department to turn over redacted portions of the report by former special counsel Robert Mueller, as well as the supporting grand jury materials.
Howell said the House Judiciary Committee was entitled to the materials under a grand jury exception for disclosure “preliminarily to or in connection with a judicial proceeding.” There is no need for a formal impeachment resolution approved by the House, Howell said.
The DOJ had argued that it would be “irreparably harmed” if the material is released. “Once the information is disclosed, it cannot be recalled, and the confidentiality of the grand jury information will be lost for all time,” the department said in a court filing.
