Politico: Secret Grand Jury Legal Fight Appears Mueller Related

[DonViejo]

By Tierney Sneed
October 25, 2018 10:00 am

Through forensics work on the court docket for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and some eagle-eyed reporting at the D.C. federal courthouse, Politico has identified a secret grand jury court fight that appears to be related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

The “Grand Jury Subpoena” matter, as its called on the docket, appears to have originated from the court of U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, the chief judge in DC federal court, who has already heard other legal squabbles over whether certain witnesses must testify in front of Mueller’s grand jury.

Sometimes, like the fight over whether Paul Manafort’s attorney had to testify, the proceedings happen under seal — meaning the press and public can’t access them — and are later unsealed when the secrecy is no longer necessary. The challenge that Roger Stone’s aide Andrew Miller has brought to a grand jury subpoena started under seal but has since been allowed to spill into the public eye, with a November appellate court hearing on it expected to be open to the public.

The latest grand jury matter appears to have been appealed twice, the first time after a ruling from Howell on Sept. 19. An appeal was filed in front of the D.C. Circuit Sept. 24, but that appeal appears to have been denied on the basis of being premature.

more
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/politico-secret-grand-jury-legal-fight-appears-mueller-related

[irisblue]

1. I immediately wondered who filed the 2 appeals...

From the article

snip"...but there’s a publicly viewable docket for it at the appeals court level, though none of the individual filings are accessible to the public and there’s no indication who the parties are."

Curious and curiouser

[Stallion]

2. A "Premature" Appeal in a Discovery/Subpoena matter Would likely be From the Witness/Deponent

in other words discovery would be allowed to proceed and allow the Court to consider issues such as privilege or other objection later after the testimony