The US Justice Department has appealed the lower court ruling ordering the release of the complete Mueller report to the US congressional committee. The Justice Department has asked the court to stay its order to turn over Mueller materials by 30 October while the appeal is pending.
"Notice is hereby given that the Department of Justice appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from this Court's October 25, 2019, Memorandum and Order (ECF Nos. 45 and 46) requiring disclosure of certain grand jury information by October 30, 2019", the court document said.
The statement comes after US Judge Beryl Howell ordered that the House Judiciary Committee, after it has examined and assessed all of the unredacted material, may request further disclosure of grand jury material related to the matter.
Mueller published a final report on his inquiry in April, concluding that the probe had found no evidence of collusion between US President Donald Trump and Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign.
House Democrats recently initiated impeachment proceedings against Trump, saying that he had sought to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to probe Joe Biden's son for possible corruption. Democrats claim that the request amounted to an attempt to solicit foreign influence in the upcoming US election.
Trump denies any wrongdoing and has accused Democrats of launching another "witch hunt" against him after failing to oust him from office with the Mueller probe.
