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United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT

Argued January 3, 2020 Decided March 10, 2020 No. 19-5288 I

N RE

:

A

PPLICATION OF THE

C

OMMITTEE ON THE

J

UDICIARY

,

U.S.

H

OUSE OF

R

EPRESENTATIVES

,

FOR AN

O

RDER

A

UTHORIZING THE

R

ELEASE OF

C

ERTAIN

G

RAND

J

URY

M

ATERIALS

, C

OMMITTEE ON THE

J

UDICIARY

,

U

NITED

S

TATES

H

OUSE OF

R

EPRESENTATIVES

, A

PPELLEE

v. U

NITED

S

TATES

D

EPARTMENT OF

J

USTICE

, A

PPELLANT

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (No. 1:19-gj-00048)

Mark R. Freeman

, Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, argued the cause for appellant. With him on the briefs were

Hashim M. Mooppan

, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, and

Michael S. Raab

and

Brad Hinshelwood

, Attorneys.

Douglas N. Letter

, General Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives, argued the cause for appellee. With him on

USCA Case #19-5288 Document #1832741 Filed: 03/10/2020 Page 1 of 75

2 the brief were

Todd B. Tatelman

, Deputy General Counsel,

Megan Barbero

and

Josephine Morse

, Associate General Counsel,

Adam A. Grogg

and

William E. Havemann

, Assistant General Counsel,

Jonathan B. Schwartz

, Attorney,

Annie L. Owens

,

Mary B. McCord

, and

Daniel B. Rice

.

Elizabeth B. Wydra

,

Brianne J. Gorod

, and

Ashwin P. Phatak

were on the brief for

amicus curiae

Constitutional Accountability Center in support of the Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives. Before: R

OGERS

, G

RIFFITH

, and R

AO

,

Circuit Judges

. Opinion for the Court by

Circuit Judge

R

OGERS

. Concurring opinion by

Circuit Judge

G

RIFFITH

. Dissenting opinion by

Circuit Judge

R

AO

. R

OGERS

,

Circuit Judge

: Article I of the United States Constitution provides that the House of Representatives “shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.” U.S.

C

ONST

. art. I, § 2, cl. 5. Further, the Senate “shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments.”

Id.

§ 3, cl. 6. The Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives seeks to obtain the redacted grand jury materials referenced in the Special Counsel’s Report in connection with its impeachment investigation of President Donald J. Trump. The district court authorized the disclosure of these grand jury materials pursuant to the “judicial proceeding” exception in Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure


3 6(e)(3)(E)(i). For the following reasons, because that exception encompasses impeachment proceedings and the Committee has established a “particularized need” for the grand jury materials, the Order of the district court is affirmed.

I.

In May 2017, Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert S. Mueller, III, as Special Counsel to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, including any links or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with President Trump’s election campaign. As part of this investigation, a grand jury sitting in the District of Columbia “issued more than 2,800 subpoenas” and almost 80 witnesses testified before the grand jury. Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, III, Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election, Vol. I at 13 (March 2019) (“The Mueller Report”). In addition, the Special Counsel’s Office interviewed “approximately 500 witnesses” under oath,

id.

, including members of the Administration. On March 22, 2019, the Special Counsel submitted his confidential two-volume report to the Attorney General pursuant to 28 C.F.R. § 600.8(c). Volume I summarizes Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and describes the “numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump Campaign.” Vol. I at 1–3. Nevertheless, the Special Counsel concluded that “the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”

Id.

at 2. Volume II outlines the Special Counsel’s examination of whether the President obstructed justice in connection with the Russia-related investigations. The Special Counsel declined to
