Supreme Court stays out of dispute over grand jury secrecy

The Supreme Court refused Tuesday, Jan. 21, to get involved in a dispute about judges’ authority to order the disclosure of secret grand jury material in rare circumstances. The court turned away an appeal from an 82-year-old researcher who is seeking grand jury records from the late 1950s. The justices’ order does not affect an ongoing court battle over House Democrats’ quest for access to grand jury materials from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. The Mueller grand jury fight turns on the House’s argument that it is entitled to the records as part of President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry, which it contends is a judicial proceeding. Rules that govern the federal courts specifically allow disclosure for a judicial proceeding. The issue in the case