Federal appeals court grants congress access to Mueller investigation grand jury testimony News
© WikiMedia (Pete Souza)
Federal appeals court grants congress access to Mueller investigation grand jury testimony

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 Tuesday to give the House Judiciary Committee access to grand jury testimony from the Mueller investigation.

Judge Judith Rogers authored the court’s opinion. In the opinion, Rogers cited congress’ sole constitutional power to impeach as justification for granting testimony access. She stressed the importance of grand jury testimony for House impeachment oversight. Rogers explained:

The Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives seeks to obtain the redacted grand jury materials referenced in the Special Counsel’s Report in connection with its impeachment investigation of President Donald J. Trump. The district court authorized the disclosure of these grand jury materials pursuant to the “judicial proceeding” exception in Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e)(3)(E)(i). For the following reasons, because that exception encompasses impeachment proceedings and the Committee has established a “particularized need” for the grand jury materials, the Order of the district court is affirmed.

The DC District Court previously granted the congressional committee access to the testimony. The Justice Department appealed the lower court’s decision in October. It is unclear whether another appeal will follow.