Supreme Court grants DOJ request to temporarily block order on release of Mueller grand jury files

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The Supreme Court on Friday granted an emergency request from the Department of Justice to block enforcement of an order to release grand jury materials from former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and alleged Trump campaign collusion in those efforts.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, better known as the D.C. Circuit Court, ruled in March that the House Judiciary Committee, led by Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., could view secret grand jury papers that had previously been redacted in Mueller's original report. The House investigators are seeking that information ostensibly as part of an impeachment investigation against Trump despite the fact Trump was acquitted earlier this year of unrelated articles of impeachment.

"Almost a year ago, the Judiciary Committee requested access to the grand jury materials contained in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Report," Nadler said when he got the favorable ruling two months ago. "The Justice Department has consistently provided grand jury material to the Committee in past investigations involving presidential misconduct — but Attorney General Barr chose to break from that long-standing practice, and DOJ radically altered its position in an attempt to withhold this information."

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In this June 19, 2013, file photo, then-FBI Director Robert Mueller testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. When special counsel Mueller testifies before Congress it will be a moment many have been waiting for, but it comes with risk for Democrats. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (AP)

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But the Supreme Court on Friday blocked the lower court's order, which gave the DOJ a deadline of Monday to turn over the documents.

In an order signed by Chief Justice John Roberts, it further requested that lawyers for the House Judiciary Committee respond with arguments against why the unredacted Mueller documents should be turned over by May 18.

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The Supreme Court would then issue a final order on whether or not the DOJ will be forced to hand over the documents.

House Intelligence Committee transcripts released Thursday night indicated that top Obama officials acknowledged that they knew of no “empirical evidence” of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election, despite their concerns and suspicions.

Fox News' Ronn Blitzer and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.