Roberts agrees to put lower court mandate on temporary hold in Mueller grand jury secrets case

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: CNN

Roberts agrees to put lower court mandate on temporary hold in Mueller grand jury secrets case

By Ariane de Vogue, CNN Supreme Court Reporter

Updated 1:03 PM ET, Fri May 8, 2020

Washington (CNN) -- Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday put a temporary hold on the release of Mueller grand jury materials to the House while the court considers the Trump administration's request for a longer delay.

A lower court ruled in March that the House Judiciary Committee has a "compelling need" to view the secretive details prosecutors had collected from witnesses about President Donald Trump. The court set a May 11 deadline.

On Thursday, Solicitor General Noel Francisco asked the Supreme Court to put the May 11 deadline on hold, while the DOJ prepares its appeal.

Roberts agreed to a temporary stay and asked for a response from the House by May 18.

The administration had said last month that it planned to make the request to the high court. Should the nine justices decide they want to hear the case, it could be months before it's resolved.

This story has been updated to include additional background information.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/08/politics/supreme-court-robert-mueller-grand-jury/index.html

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Hat tip, Popehat

LightOfDayHat Retweeted

https://twitter.com/Popehat

NEW: Chief Justice John Roberts has put a temporary hold on the disclosure of Mueller grand jury materials to House of Representatives while the Supreme Court decides what to do

Link to tweet

[Botany]

1. And this why McConnell and the GOP have been packing the courts

I wonder how long the "temporary hold" will be for?

From the CNN link

A lower court ruled in March that the House Judiciary Committee has a "compelling need" to view the secretive details prosecutors had collected from witnesses about President Donald Trump. The court set a May 11 deadline.

On Thursday, Solicitor General Noel Francisco asked the Supreme Court to put the May 11 deadline on hold, while the DOJ prepares its appeal.

Roberts agreed to a temporary stay and asked for a response from the House by May 18.

The administration had said last month that it planned to make the request to the high court. Should the nine justices decide they want to hear the case, it could be months before it's resolved.

[machoneman]

4. It's ten days as noted. Not the issue though: If the SC's send it back to the lower court....

and even if they don't change their view, the DOJ will AGAIN appeal it on some other phony grounds, meaning the whole thing won't be settled, if ever, even after multiple appeals, until long after the election. In fact, they may hear many of the appeals at the SC level (i.e. after multiple rounds in the lower court) and delay the release until 2022, 2023 and later in a conservative justice's way of protecting Trump and his long-gone allies.

[Botany]

10. Yup!

Barr will just keep sending in frivolous appeals and delay it after the election.

BTW a released Mueller report would cook Trump so much that even the GOP
in the Senate couldn't cover his ass.

https://themoscowproject.org/explainers/trumps-russia-cover-up-by-the-numbers-70-contacts-with-russia-linked-operatives/

[Squinch]

2. Because of course he does.

[cstanleytech]

3. If he blocks the House and or uses the excuse that the Court cannot get involved

it will be the final nail that SCOTUS can be relied on.

[bluestarone]

5. THIS i certainly have to agree with!!

100%!!

[aggiesal]

6. THis should be the headline! ...

NEW: Chief Justice John Roberts has put a temporary hold on the disclosure of Mueller grand jury materials to House of Representatives while the Supreme Court decides what to do

They're going to figure out a way to keep the Grand Jury material evidence, out of the House's hands.

[duforsure]

7. Wonder how many times trumps contacted him

Offering bribes , threats , or worse to get this delayed for him.

[turbinetree]

8. BULL SHIT...................

[Bayard]

9. Doesn't Congress have a legal right to these materials?

Same as they do trump's tax returns. Where is THAT case?

[lark]

11. I've said over and over that Roberts is all in on the rw fascist destruction of our country.

He proves it over and over with every single thing he does. He will definitely side with drumpf when he declares martial law and stops the elections and will try to pretend we are still a democracy, but it will be a lie and all our laws that involve business, the rich or white men will be invalidated. Next they will steal all SS & Medicare funds, declare Medicaid bankrupt, stop free public schools, disallow all forms of birth control and labor laws will already be dead so we are a nation of barons and serfs and guess which we will be? At that point there will probably be a civil war because otherwise we will just die young and desperate and most aren't up for that.

[BlueIdaho]

12. Worst Kangaroo Court Ever.

Roberts is a laughing stock and his court is a shambles. The on-air toilet flush is a fitting metaphor for its respect for justice and the law.

[Lonestarblue]

13. Where is our Deep Throat?

I would think that more than one person would have access to these files and would be patriotic enough to release them to some journalist. Trump has been deplorable toward the FBI and the whole intelligence group. The public deserves to know what our sitting president has done.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

14. DOJ asks court to temporarily block release of secret Mueller grand jury materials (Updated)

Amy Howe Independent Contractor and Reporter

Posted Thu, May 7th, 2020 3:21 pm

DOJ asks court to temporarily block release of secret Mueller grand jury materials (Updated)

UPDATE: On Friday Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily blocked the release of the grand jury materials and ordered the House Judiciary Committee to respond by Monday, May 18, at 3 p.m. EDT. The committee had not opposed the temporary hold, known as an administrative stay, to give the court time to review the government’s request.

The Department of Justice came to the Supreme Court today, asking the justices to put on hold the disclosure of grand jury materials from the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who in March 2019 submitted a report on possible Russian interference in the 2016 election. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld an order by a federal trial court that would require the disclosure to the House Judiciary Committee of portions of the Mueller report that had been redacted, along with grand jury transcripts and materials that had been kept secret. Unless the Supreme Court steps in, the government told the justices, “the government will have to disclose the materials on May 11, 2020, which would irrevocably lift their secrecy and possibly frustrate the government’s ability to seek further review.”

The D.C. Circuit, the government explained, relied on an exception to the general rule of grand jury secrecy that allows courts to authorize disclosure of grand jury materials “in connection with a judicial proceeding” – in this case, the D.C. Circuit reasoned, the impeachment trial of the president. The Department of Justice plans to file a petition for review of the D.C. Circuit’s order; today’s filing asked the justices to temporarily block the release of the grand jury materials until that petition is filed and the Supreme Court rules in the case. The government argued, in a brief signed by U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco, that the justices are likely to grant review; by contrast, the government contended, the House Judiciary Committee “has not identified any urgent requirement” to obtain the materials, and there is no impeachment trial currently underway.

The House Judiciary Committee indicated that it plans to oppose the government’s request to block the release of the grand jury materials, but it also indicated that – “out of respect” for the Supreme Court – it does not oppose a seven-day stay to give the justices time to rule on the government’s request.

The government’s request went to Chief Justice John Roberts, who handles emergency appeals from the District of Columbia. Roberts can rule on the request himself or, as is more likely, refer it to his colleagues.

This post was originally published at Howe on the Court.

Posted in Featured, Emergency appeals and applications

Recommended Citation: Amy Howe, DOJ asks court to temporarily block release of secret Mueller grand jury materials (Updated), SCOTUSblog (May. 7, 2020, 3:21 PM), https://www.scotusblog.com/2020/05/doj-asks-court-to-temporarily-block-release-of-secret-mueller-grand-jury-materials/