Donald Trump (image via Flickr/WhiteHouse)
The House Judiciary Committee is entitled to view secret grand jury evidence gathered by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, Judge Beryl A. Howell of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in a 75-page opinion. Attorney General William P. Barr had withheld the material from lawmakers.
Typically, Congress has no right to view secret evidence gathered by a grand jury. But in 1974, the courts permitted the committee weighing whether to impeach President Richard M. Nixon to see such materials — and, Judge Howell ruled, the House is now engaged in the same process focused on Mr. Trump.
“Tipping the scale even further toward disclosure is the public’s interest in a diligent and thorough investigation into, and in a final determination about, potentially impeachable conduct by the president described in the Mueller report,” she wrote.
In reaching her decision, Judge Howell rejected the contention by Mr. Trump and his allies that the investigation Democrats are pursuing, which has since expanded to encompass the Ukraine scandal, is not a legitimate impeachment inquiry.
Stunning rebuke of the DOJ’s argument from a federal judge: “The Department of Justice claims that existing law bars disclosure to the Congress of grand jury information,” Judge Howell wrote. “DOJ is wrong.”
— Caroline Orr (@RVAwonk) October 25, 2019
Within that ruling today, Judge Howell put the nail in Republicans’ bitching about the House process under way, too. “Even in cases of presidential impeachment, a House resolution has never, in fact, been required to begin an impeachment inquiry.” In the ruling. Yeah.
— Branch Talley (@BranchTalley) October 25, 2019
Looks like Judge Howell agrees it’s an official impeachment inquiry even if Lindsey Graham and Moscow Mitch don’t https://t.co/EJrroren3F
— Howie Klein (@downwithtyranny) October 25, 2019
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