USSC Will Decide Mueller Grand Jury Redacted Case for House in October

“Where the hell were you, Vlad. I've been waiting”

(Osaka, Japan, G-20, June 2019)

From The AP (July 1, 2020): The High Court will take up dispute over release of un-redacted Grand Jury secret materials from Mueller report to Congress (materials the House wanted for the Trump impeachment but never got – they only had the redacted version of the Mueller report and Barr’s own short  version). 

I note: The full report un-redacted could have made a difference but of course Trump, Barr, and McConnell all knew that – hence their delay, stalling, and now involving the high court to further save Trump’s ass and help him win for reelection (logical and best guess). The case is Department of Justice v. House Committee on the Judiciary (No. 19-1328). 

Updated here from CNN.

The Supreme Court issued orders from the justices’ private conference yesterday and added another high-profile case (the one above) as seen in this May 20, 2020 SCOTUS Blog post of recent decisions or case schedule) to their docket for the fall, involving a dispute over efforts by members of Congress to obtain secret materials from the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. 

Mueller submitted a report last year to AG Barr on possible Russian interference in the 2016 election.

AG Barr released his full version of that report on April 18, 2019, here is a key part:

“As you know, one of the primary purposes of the Special Counsel’s investigation was to determine whether members of the presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump, or any individuals associated with that campaign, conspired or coordinated with the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 election.  Volume I of the Special Counsel’s report describes the results of that investigation.  As you will see, the Special Counsel’s report states that his investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”

“I am sure that all Americans share my concerns about the efforts of the Russian government to interfere in our presidential election.  As the Special Counsel’s report makes clear, the Russian government sought to interfere in our election.  But thanks to the Special Counsel’s thorough investigation, we now know that the Russian operatives who perpetrated these schemes did not have the cooperation of President Trump or the Trump campaign – or the knowing assistance of any other Americans for that matter.  That is something that all Americans can and should be grateful to have confirmed.”

In July 2019, the House Judiciary Committee went to federal court in D.C., seeking an order that would require the disclosure of the redacted portions of the Mueller report, as well as grand jury transcripts and materials that had been kept secret, for use in its impeachment investigation. 

The committee relied on a provision in a federal rule of criminal procedure that allows a court to authorize the disclosure of grand jury materials that would otherwise be kept secret “in connection with a judicial proceeding.”

That D.C. federal court granted the committee’s request to have access to the parts of the report redacted under grand jury secrecy rules, as well as the related grand jury materials.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. upheld that order.

Trump’s team then went to the Supreme Court in May, asking the justices to block the release of the grand jury materials until it could file its petition for review of the D.C. Circuit’s decision. Otherwise, the government contended, it would have to hand the materials over, lifting the veil of secrecy and potentially rendering any future proceedings in the dispute meaningless. On May 20, the justices put the disclosure of the materials on hold, and today they agreed to weigh in.

But unless the justices fast-track the oral argument (and there was no indication today that they intend to do so), they are not likely to hear the case until December, after Election Day, with a ruling to follow sometime next year.

My historical and factual insert: Trump meets Putin at G-20 June 28-29, 2019 in Osaka, Japan (photo above as the meet) with this exchange between  them reported on by The UK Telegraph (one of the few times Trump’s joke was deadly serious and he didn’t even know it):

Trump began his meeting with Putin at the summit by treating the serious nature of Russian interference in the 2016 election campaign as a joking matter. 

That was the first encounter between Trump and Putin since special counsel Robert Mueller found Russia engaged a “systematic operation to sway the election” was more jovial than confrontational. 

But as Trump attempted to reset relations with Russia, his conduct only served to refocus pressure on his deference to the country as House Democrats prepared to question Mueller that following month. 

The meeting between the two presidents had not yet begun when a reporter asked Trump whether he would tell Putin to not interfere in the forthcoming 2020 presidential election. Trump replied: “Yes, of course I will.” 

He then turned to Putin with mock-seriousness and a smirk on his face to announce: “Don't meddle in the election, Mr. President.” 

The remark brought a chuckle and a smile from Putin as Trump then pointed to another Russian official seated at the meeting and with a playful tone and repeated: “Don’t meddle in the election.”

Ha, ha, LOL, chuckle, chuckle: Yes, Mr. and Mrs. America. That’s our president – how proud his loyalists must feel every single day. Was this the first your heard about meeting in Osaka and that greeting from Trump? Of course it was, right?

My 2 cents: Now, with that delay this 5-4 court (GOP-conservative leaning) is 100% playing politics, or are they? Maybe they want to avoid a partisan decision. 

This court almost always says they want avoid any ruling that favors or gives the appearance of politics – just the “the rule of law not politics.”

However, the public needs to see that Muller report in full, now not after the election and with no redactions (some names of Grand Jury members should be blacked out, of course, but not the proof of Russian interference in 2016.) We the People do have a compelling right to know.

So, does delayed ruling favor Trump, who most likely gains more bragging rights for the 2020 election that benefits him, or not? 

Will voters again fall for his conning series of lies like they did in 2016?  Boy, one hopes not. 

Between this decision and election eve I can just see and hear the Trump campaign Ads and his Tweets (mostly) all yapping: “See, you need to keep me in for another term. I will get another conservative seat to ensure conservative law and rules and control or decades to come and all thanks to me – /s/ The DIC: Donald-in-Charge.”

Thanks or stopping by.