It takes 4 Justices to grant cert. Taken in context of the pending cases on access to Trump tax returns, in which many observers felt writs shouldn’t have been granted, it’s clear there’s a core of conservative Justices susceptible to Barr’s ‘unitary executive’ claptrap.
SCOTUS' decision to hear an appeal from a D.C. Circuit order to DOJ to turn over Mueller grand jury materials to House Judiciary probably 'chimes' with pending SCOTUS decisions in Trump v. Mazars USA and Trump v. Vance (Trump tax returns).
All 3 cases touch, in different ways, on separation of powers, and the power of POTUS. With that in mind, granting cert on the Mueller grand jury materials may be a 'signal' as to the likely disposition of the tax return cases. We just don't know which 'signal' is being sent.
If a split Court is about to announce defeats for Trump in the tax cases, granting cert in the Mueller grand jury case may be a 'second bite at the apple' for the disappointed conservative minority, and a message to Trump and his base that the fight goes on.
If, however, a conservative majority has been assembled for protection of the Trump tax returns, granting cert in the Mueller grand jury case may have been seen as necessary to bring the D.C. Circuit's decision in that case into line with the Court's new, pro-POTUS stance.
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