WASHINGTON _ A federal appeals court gave the Trump administration 10 more days to seek U.S. Supreme Court intervention to block House Democrats from gaining access to confidential materials from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.
If the high court doesn't agree to hear the administration's challenge by May 11, the Justice Department must follow through on an earlier ruling and hand over grand jury records to the House, according to a notice posted Friday by the U.S. appeals court in Washington. The deadline is a day before the Supreme Court will hear another major case in which House Democrats are seeking access to Trump's financial records.
The House Judiciary Committee sought the grand jury records as part of its impeachment inquiry, claiming it needed access to the information to better understand Trump's knowledge of and role in events chronicled in Mueller's 448-page report. Trump was impeached by the House but acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate.
The Washington appeals court in March said Trump's impeachment proceeding met the legal standard for granting access to sealed grand jury records. In a 2-1 decision, the court rejected the Justice Department's argument that the court lacked authority over the case.
Grand jury records typically remain sealed to protect the identity of those who are investigated but not charged, as well as details of ongoing investigations.
