Judge orders partial release of Watergate era "impeachent roadmap" documents
7 replies, posted
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/11/watergate-report-donald-trump-896046
A federal judge has ordered the partial release of a Watergate report that fueled an impeachment drive against President Richard Nixon and could serve as a precedent for a similar
effort aimed at President Donald Trump. Chief U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell granted a request Thursday to unseal a large chunk of the so-called road map that a federal grand
jury in Washington sent to the House Judiciary Committee in early 1974.
The transmission to Congress more than four decades ago included a bare-bones summary of evidence from various witnesses, as well as supporting documents contained in a
bulging olive-colored briefcase that prosecutors gave Judge John Sirica. The information detailed what the grand jury discovered about the Watergate break-in and Nixon’s
involvement in subsequent efforts to cover it up.
Howell acted at the request of Geoffrey Shepard, a California lawyer who served as a member of Nixon’s defense team during the legal showdown over Watergate. In 2011, when others
moved to unseal Nixon’s grand jury testimony, Shepard asked that other information about the grand jury’s activities be made public.
“We’re clearly making progress because the judge has asked for further efforts by the Department of Justice,” Shepard told POLITICO on Thursday. What may have spurred action on
Shepard’s 7-year-old petition is a similar request filed last month by three scholars urging the court to make the road map public.
Those making the new request — Stephen Bates, a University of Nevada journalism professor and former Whitewater investigation prosecutor; Jack Goldsmith, a Harvard law
professor; and Lawfare editor Benjamin Wittes — said they were acting to spur discussion about the mechanism Watergate special prosecutor Leon Jaworski used and how it could be
used by Mueller.
The dispute over the Watergate-era records and the discussion about their relevance to the Mueller investigation come as a federal appeals court in Washington is considering a
broader question about whether judges have the authority to release historical grand jury materials. The Justice Department has argued they do not, but Lamberth, Howell and other
courts across the country have ruled that judges have that power. A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals heard vigorous arguments on that issue last month. No
decision has yet been issued.
A ruling for the government in that case could limit Mueller’s ability to send Congress a report about Trump’s actions, but it’s possible a formal request from a congressional committee
could overcome that hurdle. Such a request is unlikely at the moment, but if Democrats take control of the House in the upcoming midterm elections, a request for Mueller’s grand jury
evidence could be forthcoming.
Hmmmmmm interesting
Do you really need it?
You have a guy making a literal mockery of the US presidency on FUCKING TWITTER, and you're in need of a How To Impeachment 101 document?
you know the republicans are gonna fight tooth n nail to keep the trump in his high chair. They're gonna need this roadmap to say "LOOK THIS IS DEFINITIVE IMPEACHMENT STUFF"
"wait a little longer, lets see where this goes", he says while Trump saws a mexican in half
Well hey, if he's doing that, I wanna see if he uses flextape. You can bet I wanna wait a little longer and see where it goes.
we would need a supermajority of senators and a friendly senate anyways. Even if the house impeaches trump in 2019, if mitch is head of the senate still, the trial will be an absolute sham
That's a lotta damage! Sad!
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