Chief U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell on Wednesday instructed the Department of Justice to weigh in on a push from media organizations to provide transparency about secret court hearings that have been occurring in the District of Columbia.
"A federal judge is considering whether to unseal secret court documents detailing Donald Trump’s effort to prevent former aides from providing testimony to a grand jury investigating efforts to subvert the 2020 election," Politico's Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein reported.
Politico asked for the records to be unsealed on Oct. 18 and The New York Times did so three days later.
"Howell’s ask comes as Trump has been quietly waging — and losing — a court battle in recent weeks to prevent former aides from testifying to the grand jury," Politico reported. "Marc Short, former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, testified before a grand jury last Thursday just hours after a federal appeals court panel rejected a last-ditch appeal by Trump lawyers seeking to raise executive privilege concerns about the appearance."
Politico reviewed a court docket that shows D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judges Karen Henderson, Robert Wilkins, and Florence Pan rejected the emergency stay the night before Short was to testify.
"The appeals court panel’s ruling was the result of a four-month fight that was initiated on June 10 over testimony related to grand jury subpoenas pertaining to the Jan. 6 investigation," Politico reported. "But it accelerated rapidly on Sept. 28, when Howell ruled against Trump. The nature of the ruling remains sealed but it pertained to two grand jury subpoenas that Trump had challenged."
The Department of Justice was given a Nov. 15 deadline to respond.
Read the full report.