The Supreme Court is denying Congress access to the secret grand jury testimony of Russia’s investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller during the November election.
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court is denying Congress access to the secret grand jury testimony of Russia’s investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller during the November election.
Judges agreed Thursday to hear the Trump administration’s appeal of a lower court order for the material to be turned over to the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. The higher court action will keep the documents out of Congress’s hands at least until the case is resolved, which is unlikely to happen before 2021.
The arguments themselves may not take place even before the Americans decide whether to give President Donald Trump a second term.
The delay is a victory for Trump, who is also organizing a fight in the Supreme Court against efforts by Congress to obtain his bank records and other financial records. Those cases are expected to be decided in the next few days or weeks.
The court action could also mean that judges never have to reach a final ruling in a sensitive dispute between the executive and legislative branches of government, if Trump loses reelection or Republicans regain control of the House next year. It’s hard to imagine that an administration of Democrat Joe Biden would oppose releasing the Mueller papers or House Republicans would continue to press for them.
The House wants previously undisclosed details of the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Representative Jerrold Nadler, DN.Y., chairman of the Judicial Committee of the House of Representatives, called the court’s decision disappointing.
“Unfortunately, President Trump and Attorney General (William) Barr continue to try to time out any liability. While I am sure their legal arguments will fail, it is now even more important for the American people to hold the president accountable at the polls. in November, ”Nadler said in a statement.
The federal appeals court in Washington ruled in March that the documents should be released because the need for the House Judiciary Committee for the material in its Trump investigation exceeded the interests of the Justice Department in keeping the testimony secret.
Mueller’s 448-page report, released in April 2019, “did not” come to conclusions about Trump’s conduct, including whether he obstructed justice, to avoid stepping on the House’s impeachment power, the US court said. appeals.
The committee was able to persuasively argue that it needed access to the underlying grand jury material to make its own decisions on the president’s actions, the court said.
The materials were initially sought last summer, but when the appeals court ruled in March, Trump had been removed by the House and acquitted by the Senate.
The Justice Department said in its submissions to the Supreme Court that the court’s action was necessary in part because the House has given no indication that it “urgently needs these materials for any ongoing impeachment investigation.”
The House had opposed the delay on the grounds that its investigation into Trump was ongoing and that time is of the essence due to the upcoming election. The current House session will end on January 3, and legislators elected in November will take seats.
Democrats have suggested that grand jury materials could reveal new misconduct that could form the basis of new articles of impeachment, but such a course would have been unlikely so close to the 2020 elections, even if the court had allowed the delivery of the material. immediately.
The House indicted Trump for his efforts to get Ukraine to announce a Biden investigation, but the Republican-controlled Senate acquitted the president in February.
It is also unclear how many new or incendiary revelations the grand jury transcripts could contain. The Mueller report, although redacted in parts, revealed more than a year ago important information about the president’s efforts to stifle the investigation and raised important questions about whether he had committed an obstruction of justice.
In addition, many of Trump’s closest witnesses voluntarily appeared before Mueller’s team of prosecutors, and the Justice Department in recent months has released written, albeit redacted, summaries of those interviews. That means the public already has an idea of the accounts of Trump’s top associates, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner and advisers like Steve Bannon and Hope Hicks.
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Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
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