DOJ Appeals Federal Judge's Order To Hand Over Mueller Documents

On Monday, the Department of Justice said it will appeal a federal judge's order that the government must hand over materials from the Mueller report that may contain other impeachable information about President Trump. 

On Friday, Federal Judge Beryl Howell ordered the DOJ to give the House Judiciary Committee grand jury an unredacted version of the Mueller report, as well as documents related to it.

In her 75-page order, she cited President Trump's administration's reluctance to comply with the impeachment probe as reason to further the impeachment inquiry. 

She said, "Congress’s need to access grand jury material relevant to potential impeachable conduct by a President is heightened when the Executive Branch willfully obstructs channels for accessing other relevant evidence."

According to Judge Howell's request, the Justice Department had to deliver these materials to Congress by Wednesday. But DOJ lawyers filed a separate motion trying to block that deadline. It said that because House Democrats are more focused on the President's involvement with Ukraine, the Mueller documents "[are] not the current focus of impeachment activity" and therefore not needed as urgently.