Mueller Investigation

The U.S. House of Representatives petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to grant en banc rehearing in their case seeking to compel the testimony of former White House counsel Donald McGahn. Last week, a three-judge panel held that federal judges do not have the authority to resolve disputes between the White House and Congress. The House petition argues that the ruling impermissibly overruled D.C.

On Feb. 28, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit dismissed the House Judiciary Committee's lawsuit to compel the testimony of former White House Counsel Don McGahn. Writing on behalf of the court, Judge Thomas B. Griffith wrote, "The Department of Justice (DOJ), on behalf of McGahn, responds that Article III of the Constitution forbids federal courts from resolving this kind of interbranch information dispute. We agree and dismiss this case." The opinion is available here and below.

In its suit to obtain Mueller investigation grand jury materials, the House of Representatives has highlighted what it argues is a contradiction that "cannot be reconciled" between the Justice Department's position on impeachment and that expressed by President Trump's lawyers in his impeachment trial before the Senate. While the department has argued that a Senate impeachment trial is not a "judicial proceeding," the president's attorneys referred to the Senate as a "court" in the impeachment proceedings.

On Monday, the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General released a report on its review of the four FISA applications and other aspects of the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane Investigation, which explored any possible coordination or connection between the Trump campaign and Russian efforts to interfere with the 2016 election. The document is available here and below.