Justices put off case over access to Russia probe grand jury

The U.S. Supreme Court is putting off upcoming arguments about whether Congress should have access to secret grand jury testimony from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives had asked the court to put off arguments scheduled for Dec. 2, and the court on Friday agreed, removing the case from its calendar.

Douglas Letter, the top lawyer for the House, had told the court in a written filing that the House Judiciary Committee that takes office in January “will have to determine whether it wishes to continue pursuing the application for the grand-jury materials that gave rise to this case.” Letter noted that President Donald Trump’s defeat in his bid for reelection could affect the committee’s decision.

The material initially was sought in the summer of 2019 as part of the committee’s investigation of possible misconduct by Trump, including whether he obstructed Mueller’s investigation. Mueller’s 448-page report, issued in April 2019, stopped short of reaching conclusions about Trump’s conduct to avoid stepping on the House’s impeachment power, the federal appeals court in Washington said in March when it ruled that the materials should be turned over.

By the time of the appellate ruling, Trump had been impeached by the House for his efforts to get Ukraine to announce an investigation of Democrat Joe Biden. Trump was acquitted by the Senate in a largely party-line vote.