2:53 p.m. ET, December 16, 2019
House argues it still needs access to Mueller grand jury details for impeachment proceedings
From CNN's Katelyn Polantz
With a historic vote in the impeachment inquiry looming, the House is arguing to a federal appeals court today that it still needs access to confidential grand jury information from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation for use in the current impeachment proceedings.
Attorneys for the House told the DC Circuit Court of Appeals some of the still-secret information may have to do with Ukraine.
The grand jury information allegedly contains “certain redacted materials [that] pertain to a Trump Campaign member’s dealings with Ukraine, and bear on whether the President committed impeachable offenses by soliciting Ukrainian interference in the 2020 Presidential election,” the House wrote in a court filing today.
“The need for the withheld material grows more urgent by the day,” the attorneys wrote.
The House says the material, which apparently includes information collected about the Trump campaign’s interest in WikiLeaks in 2016, is “bearing on the impeachment of President Trump” and whether Trump obstructed Mueller with his written answers to questions about WikiLeaks.
What happens next: The case will be argued at the DC Circuit Court of Appeals on Jan. 3. The Justice Department is still attempting to block the House’s request for the grand jury material after a lower-level judge sided with the House.