Mueller report release could be hugely impacted by this obscure court case

The release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report may be affected by a little-known case making its way through a federal appeals court.

Politico reported that a divided ruling by a three-judge panel "did not directly address Mueller’s report" and instead dealt with a 63-year-old investigation into the disappearance of Jesús Galíndez, a Basque-born Columbia professor and political activist who was allegedly kidnapped and murdered by a dictatorial leader of the Dominican Republic.

As Politico reported in August 2018, an appeals case brought by lawyer and author Stuart McKeever, who has been investigating Galíndez's disappearance in 1956, could have a bearing on the Mueller report because it deals with the release of normally top-secret grand jury information.

On Friday, the DC Circuit court ruled that federal judges do not have the "inherent authority" to disclose grand jury information — a common practice used by members of the federal judiciary that had been opposed by the Justice Department.

The court ruled that a formal rule change will now be required for grand jury information to be released to the public — but the ruling may be limited by decisions currently being considered by House Democrats.

On Wednesday, the report noted, the House Judiciary Committee authorized its chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) to subpoena the report and its supporting materials — which could include grand jury information.

"Such a subpoena may be sufficient to give the House access to grand jury information under an existing exception covering material sought in connection with 'judicial proceedings,'" Politico noted.

Read the entire report on the obscure case and its impact on the Mueller report via Politico.