JUST IN: It'll likely be months before Congress gets a ruling on accessing special counsel Mueller's grand jury info.
The Judiciary Committee and DOJ have proposed a schedule that doesn't get to oral arguments until at least October.
Interestingly, the attorney appearing on behalf of DOJ described the Justice Department as the "defendant" in this matter.
As @dsamuelsohn points out, this is pretty speedy in legal terms, but on the political calendar, two months is glacial with the presidential primaries nearing.
@dsamuelsohn Second attorney appearing on behalf of DOJ doesn't use the word "defendant" in her notice.
@dsamuelsohn NEW: Democrats agreed to argue for Mueller's grand jury information in September, setting up a likely October ruling. It's a two-month timetable that's quick in court terms but going to frustrate impeachment backers worried about a dwindling calendar. politico.com/story/2019/07/…
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MORE: The court sends the case back to Chutkan to make a determination whether Trump's actions re: Pence were official or unofficial. supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf…
BREAKING: Supreme Court, 5-4 with Barrett and libs dissenting, significnatly narrows obstruction statute DOJ has used to prosecute Jan. 6 defendants, could upend hundreds of cases. supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf…
This ruling may dramatically impact the 350-plus cases of obstrcution against Jan. 6 defendants but have relatively little effect on the obstruction charges against Donald Trump. The court held that the statute in question must include manipulation of physical documents.
Justice JACKSON, who joined the majority here, also offers a roadmap for prosecutors to sustain their cases against the vast majority of Jan. 6 defendants charged with 1512, noting that even in the narrow view, the defendants sought to impair access to electoral certificates.
NEW: Mark MEADOWS has spent weeks quietly battling NARA and DOJ to obtain an enormous trove of his records as Trump’s chief of staff.
It’s spilled into the open this week in federal court, where NARA is resisting his demands. politico.com/news/2024/06/2…
Meadows says the records will help him fight criminal charges in Georgia and make clear why Jack Smith chose not to charge him or even call him an unindicted coconspirator.
But NARA says the request is too massive and broad to be relevant. What he wants:
One complicating factor: the judge in Georgia, Scott McAfee, signed off on Meadows’ request in March (before the case was paused by the appeals court). So Meadows is asking DC courts to enforce the request.
The House is free to express its disapproval of the Jan. 6 committee anytime, but this notion they will simply rescind the subpoenas or contempt votes of an earlier Congress — and that it will have some meaningful legal effect — is fanciful.
It’s become a litmus test on the right in recent weeks. But whether a contempt occurred in an earlier Congress is up to that Congress. It would be a form of legal chaos to allow Congresses years or decades later to try to unravel prior contempts that were already prosecuted.
For context: This has become a rallying call on the right, particularly since Judge Nichols ordered Steve Bannon to prison by July 1. Some candidates and members are openly promising to do this, as though it has some practical effect.
👀 Justice MERCHAN has notified the parties in Trump's case that a stray comment was posted on the NY court system's Facebook page on May 29, a day before Trump's conviction.
It does seem likely to be a fake — but Merchan didn’t indicate one way or the other whether he considered it serious. May have been sharing out of an abundance of caution in case others saw the screenshot.
BREAKING: Steve Bannon has been ordered to surrender to prison by July 1. Judge Nichols has revoked his bail.
Bannon’s sentence for defying the Jan. 6 committee’s subpoena has been on hold while he appealed. Today, Judge Nichols (a Trump appointee) ruled that the original reasons for staying the sentence no longer be er applied.
Bannon’s sentence would run through early November.
BANNON and his lawyer David Schoen are speaking to press now.