Appeals court greenlights release of secret Trump battles to block aides from testifying
Source: Politico
Details of prosecutors’ battles to obtain testimony from high-level White House aides to Donald Trump may soon become public, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday in response to a POLITICO petition to access records related to the investigation of Trump’s bid to subvert the 2020 election.
The unanimous ruling from a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals found that although those grand jury fights were properly kept secret at first, special counsel Jack Smith’s office confirmed the existence of the legal battles soon after charging Trump last year in the 2020 election probe.
“The district court’s decision was correct when it issued. But things have changed,” the judges declared. “There is little doubt that the Office of Special Counsel’s disclosure of the privilege disputes substantively and materially changed the state of play in this case and its impact on the merits of Politico’s request for disclosure should be considered.”
It was not immediately clear whether Smith would appeal the decision to the full bench of the D.C. Circuit or to the Supreme Court. If the ruling stands, it is likely to result in a more detailed look at the secretive battles that prosecutors fought in order to secure testimony from figures like former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and top aides to former Vice President Mike Pence.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/23/appeals-court-greenlights-release-of-secret-trump-battles-to-block-aides-from-testifying-00153829
