A three-judge federal circuit court panel Tuesday ruled to temporarily block the Department of Justice from being required to release grand jury information from ex-special counsel Robert Muller's Russian election probe, putting a stay on a district court's earlier ruling.
All three on the panel approving the stay were appointees of ex-President Barack Obama, reports The Hill, and said their ruling shouldn't be construed as a decision on the merits of the motion to release the materials.
“The purpose of this administrative stay is to give the court sufficient opportunity to consider the emergency motion for stay pending appeal and should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of that motion,” the panel wrote.
Last week, Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ordered the Justice Department to produce the testimony referenced in Mueller's report by Oct. 30.
The information could prove of value to House lawmakers conducting the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
Howell also last week affirmed that the inquiry is legal, saying the House did not have to have a formal resolution to move forward with the probe.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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