Federal Appellate Court Temporarily Blocks Redacted Version Of Mueller Report From Being Turned Over To Congress

On October 29, a three-judge federal appeals court panel in the D.C. Circuit in Washington stayed the order of District Court Chief Judge Beryl Howell to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to hand over the redacted sections of the 448-page Mueller Report to the House Judiciary Committee by October 30.

The DOJ had made an emergency motion in the federal appellate court. DOJ asked that the implementation of Howell’s orders be kept in abeyance. The trio of federal appeals court judges in the D.C. circuit declared that Howell’s order must be temporarily suspended.

The purpose of this order is to allow Howell enough time to reconsider the DOJ’s emergency motion.

Howell had earlier dismissed the request of the DOJ to withhold the disclosure of the redacted sections of the Mueller grand jury investigation materials to Congress. The DOJ had argued that grand jury materials were too sensitive to be disclosed to Congress. Howell said the DOJ was wrong.

A full access of the grand jury testimony to Congress would be a significant development in President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry. The version of the report currently out has numerous redacted sections. Witness testimonies and other evidence have been blacked out to hide it from public view.

If Congress had complete access to the unredacted Mueller Report, there could be crucial evidence pointing to possible Russian interference in the 2016 elections. This could have an important impact on the impeachment proceedings against Trump.

Article by Rajeet Guha