Rep. Jerry Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, fresh off his committee's disastrous session with Robert Mueller, has announced his intent to obtain access to the secret grand jury testimony taken during the Mueller investigation.
Nadler and his supporters cite Watergate as the precedent for the transmittal of grand jury information to the House Judiciary Committee - for the specific purpose of helping the Committee to decide whether to recommend a president's impeachment.
Yes, Sirica did rule in 1974 that a secret grand jury report could be transmitted to the House Judiciary Committee - a decision upheld on appeal to the D.C. Circuit.
Here's the inside story: Watergate special prosecutors convinced themselves that the HJC would never collect enough information to impeach Richard Nixon, precisely because they couldn't compel grand jury testimony under threat of indictment.
The Fifth Amendment specifically states that "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury" They would claim the grand jury could issue a "Presentment," a totally unknown and undefined concept, that would lay out a case against Richard Nixon.
Out of desperation, in May and June of 1974, HJC staff held a series of secret late-night meetings in the special prosecutors' offices, where more detailed and specific grand jury information was made available.
Grand jury testimony, by law and by design, is to remain secret forever.
https://spectator.org/grand-jury-secrecy-and-jerry-nadler/
Nadler and his supporters cite Watergate as the precedent for the transmittal of grand jury information to the House Judiciary Committee - for the specific purpose of helping the Committee to decide whether to recommend a president's impeachment.
Yes, Sirica did rule in 1974 that a secret grand jury report could be transmitted to the House Judiciary Committee - a decision upheld on appeal to the D.C. Circuit.
Here's the inside story: Watergate special prosecutors convinced themselves that the HJC would never collect enough information to impeach Richard Nixon, precisely because they couldn't compel grand jury testimony under threat of indictment.
The Fifth Amendment specifically states that "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury" They would claim the grand jury could issue a "Presentment," a totally unknown and undefined concept, that would lay out a case against Richard Nixon.
Out of desperation, in May and June of 1974, HJC staff held a series of secret late-night meetings in the special prosecutors' offices, where more detailed and specific grand jury information was made available.
Grand jury testimony, by law and by design, is to remain secret forever.
https://spectator.org/grand-jury-secrecy-and-jerry-nadler/
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