On Friday, the Justice Department opposed House Judiciary Chairman Nadler’s request for the secret grand jury material in Muller’s report.
The Democrat-controlled House Judiciary Committee previously filed a petition in federal court to be granted access to the grand jury material which is currently redacted in Mueller’s report.
Jerry Nadler argued that his panel needed the secret grand jury material in order to determine whether to recommend articles of impeachment against the President.
The Associated Press reported that in court papers filed in federal court in Washington, the Justice Department argued the committee hadn’t provided a sufficient explanation about how the material would help in the panel’s investigations of President Trump .
The government argued that any potential impeachment proceeding in Congress would not be considered a “judicial proceeding” under law, for which the information could be disclosed.
“What may come of this investigation — if anything — remains unknown and unpredictable,” the department said in the filing.
The Justice Department also argued that there is a “continuing need for secrecy” about recent grand jury proceedings because there are several investigations still underway that grew out of Robert Mueller’s probe, as the Friday’s filing claimed.
Chairman Jerry Nadler and several lawmakers have already been given access to a less redacted version of the Mueller report which was available to them in a SCIF [Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility].
The Dems have no reason to view the secret grand jury material other than to selectively leak damaging information to their stenographers in the media.
Earlier this week, the House Judiciary Committee approved procedures for an impeachment investigation into President Donald Trump.
