![]() ![]() This decision could affect the disclosure of the grand jury material in the Mueller report based on the ruling, Democrats would likely have to start the impeachment process before asking a judge to release grand jury information. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month ruled that with a few exceptions, including in response to an impeachment proceeding, federal judges cannot order grand jury material to be released. “Unless Attorney General William Barr walks arm-in-arm with Jerry Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, to say that there is a need for this material in connection with an impeachment proceeding, it’s not going to be released,” said Robert Ray, who succeeded Ken Starr as head of the independent counsel investigation into former President Bill Clinton in the late 1990s. Barr has indicated that he is not going to seek such a court order, but others could make the request, including congressional Democrats.īut attorneys said convincing the judge to release grand jury material is a long shot.īarr does not have the authority to disclose grand jury material on his own, but it can be released by court order. If court-ordered, disclosure of grand-jury matter may be made to a government attorney, other government personnel, or another federal grand jury, if the information involves foreign intelligence or counterintelligence. Barr said the Department of Justice was working with attorneys in the special counsel’s office to identify the sections in the report that have grand jury material and need to be redacted.īut while Barr does not have the authority to disclose grand jury material on his own, it can be released by court order. Of all four categories of redacted material in the report, the rules protecting grand jury material are the most inflexible, Barr told Congress. READ MORE: What to look for in the Mueller reportīecause of these guidelines, any grand jury material in the report must be redacted. The rules were put in place to protect the secrecy of federal investigations and people who may be under investigation but haven’t been charged with a crime. Material collected through the grand jury process cannot be disclosed, according to Title III, Rule 6 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. The attorney general will redact these materials from the report Thursday morning. ![]() ![]() Mueller used a grand jury to interview more than 500 witnesses and issue more than 2,800 subpoenas and 500 search warrants throughout his 22-month-long investigation. With that in mind, let’s break down each redaction category and what it means. We may not know what the secret material is, but at least we’ll know why it wasn’t disclosed. But the redactions will likely still make parts of the report difficult to read. He also said some of the redactions would come with short explanations. Attorney General William Barr told Congress last week that the Department of Justice and attorneys from the special counsel’s office were working together to redact four types of information from Robert Mueller’s full report before its release: grand jury information, classified information, information related to ongoing investigations, and information that would infringe on the privacy of “peripheral third parties.”īarr said the four categories would be color-coded, so lawmakers and the public would better understand the redactions in the report. ![]()
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