In a victory for pro-impeachment Democrats, a federal judge, appointed by President Obama, ruled that the Department of Justice has to turn over the grand jury documents compiled during the investigation into Russian collusion that was conducted by former Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The DOJ has until October 30 to turn over the documents (via Politico):
A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Justice Department must turn over former special counsel Robert Mueller's grand jury evidence to the House Judiciary Committee, a groundbreaking victory for Democrats in their effort to investigate whether President Donald Trump should be impeached for obstructing the long-running Russia probe.
In a double victory for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Judge Beryl Howell — the chief federal judge in Washington — ruled that the impeachment inquiry Democrats have launched is valid even though the House hasn't taken a formal vote on it. The decision rejects arguments by DOJ and congressional Republicans that a formal vote is necessary to launch impeachment proceedings.
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"These contentions are, at worst, red herrings and, at best, incorrect," ruled Howell, an appointee of former President Barack Obama.
In her ruling, Howell ordered the DOJ to provide by Oct. 30 "[a]ll portions of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Report on the Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election that were redacted pursuant to" grand jury restrictions.
The order also requires the Justice Department to provide "any underlying transcripts or exhibits referenced in the portions of the Mueller Report that were redacted" pursuant to those restrictions.
BREAKING (!): Judge rules the House is entitled to Mueller grand jury material. Huge win for Judiciary Committee / Dems. pic.twitter.com/ahru9pUl1y
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) October 25, 2019
BREAKING: Judge sides with House, granting access to grand jury info in and underlying Mueller report Doc: https://t.co/SyAF6DC3Cf
— Josh Gorestein (@joshgerstein) October 25, 2019
Yeah, and I’m sure all of this will be analyzed fairly as the Democrats take these documents into their secret impeachment bunker because keeping the narrative, even if it's on life support concerning impeachment, is paramount. These documents will not be reviewed in good faith. If House Democrats were holding these unofficial impeachment proceedings in public and were transparent, it would be a different story. Also, the entire case for impeachment would be trashed—as was the case with Trump-Russia collusion. Those pubic hearings undercut every aspect of the Democrats’ case. It embarrassed them. So, now, we have Democrats making sure everything is under lock and key because this has been their end goal since day one. They need to deliver on this promise to their base to get Trump. Even Republicans on the committees reviewing this nonsense have to be babysat as they read what Democrats give them in one-page summaries. It’s ridiculous.