Supreme Court temporarily blocks release of Mueller grand jury evidence

May 8 (UPI) -- The Supreme Court on Friday granted a Justice Department request to temporarily block the release of secret grand jury material from special counsel Robert Mueller's probe to Congress.

The order was signed by Chief Justice John Roberts. It is regarded as procedural and was not opposed by the House Judiciary Committee, which initiated the suit. Roberts said in the order that the committee has until May 18 to file a response.

The day before, President Donald Trump's administration sought the court's intervention to prevent the Justice Department from providing certain secret grand jury material from Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election to the committee.

In March, the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals cleared the way for release of the evidence in a separation-of-powers lawsuit brought by House Democrats. The appeals court gave the Justice Department a May 11 deadline for the Justice Department to turn the materials over to Congress.

House Democrats have said the release of information will provide a better picture of Mueller's findings. Grand jury materials are generally protected from disclosure but can be released in connection with judicial proceedings, which the House Democrats successfully argued in the appeals court includes impeachment proceedings. In the 37-page request for a stay Thursday, the Justice Department argued that breaching grand jury secrecy could have a negative effect on witnesses in the future.

The Justice Department argued in the appeals court that the committee needs a court order to see the materials, and even with that, without a judicial proceeding they could only see redacted versions of the documents. The appellate court disagreed.