U.S. judge balks at Justice Dept. bid to deny House access to Mueller grand jury materials
By Spencer S. Hsu
Oct. 8, 2019 at 8:40 p.m. EDT
Justice Department lawyers urged a federal judge Tuesday to deny a House Judiciary Committee request for grand-jury materials from former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation, arguing that despite legal rulings during the impeachment inquiry into President Richard M. Nixon, in hindsight courts in 1974 should not have given Congress materials from the Watergate grand jury.
“Wow, okay,” Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell of Washington responded, sounding unpersuaded. “As I said, the department is taking extraordinary positions in this case.”
Howell called the stance one of several “extreme” arguments presented by Trump administration lawyers in opposing the House request for Mueller grand-jury materials, part of a widening impeachment investigation of President Trump.
Over a two-hour hearing, Howell voiced strong skepticism of Justice Department arguments against granting the House petition, presented in a lawsuit that predated Congress’s current impeachment inquiry surrounding the Trump administration’s dealings with Ukraine.
more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/us-judge-balks-at-justice-dept-bid-to-deny-house-access-to-mueller-grand-jury-materials/2019/10/08/bd0de590-e9c6-11e9-9c6d-436a0df4f31d_story.html
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