Supreme Court temporarily blocks release of Mueller grand jury material

The Supreme Court issued a stay on Wednesday denying House Democrats immediate access to secret grand jury materials from the Mueller report in order to give the Trump administration time to appeal a lower court decision.

Why it matters: Democrats say the material could help them determine whether President Trump obstructed the Mueller investigation, possibly requiring new articles of impeachment.

The big picture: The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court earlier this month to temporarily block an appellate ruling that would force the Justice Department to release the grand jury testimony to Congress.

• Solicitor General Noel Francisco argued to the Supreme Court that the release of the documents would cause irreparable harm to the executive branch.
• Counsel for the House Judiciary Committee said in a filing this week that "the committee's impeachment investigation related to obstruction of justice pertaining to the Russia investigation is ongoing" and that the grand jury testimony may be relevant.

What to watch: The Supreme Court gave the Trump administration until June 1 to file its appeal.