Article snippet: A federal circuit court on Tuesday evening temporarily blocked the release of grand jury materials from former special counsel MORE’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. A three-judge panel, all Obama appointees to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, suspended a lower court’s Wednesday deadline in order to have extra time to consider the merits of a recent Department of Justice (DOJ) request. The DOJ on Monday asked judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to hold off on enforcing her pivotal ruling last week that ordered the agency to provide the documents to the House Judiciary Committee by Wednesday. The department's broader request to Howell is that she suspend her order indefinitely while the Trump administration formally asks the appeals court to reconsider whether it must disclose the grand jury materials to Congress at all. The appeals court in its ruling Tuesday said the purpose of its stay was to provide “sufficient opportunity to consider the emergency motion” by the DOJ. The judges noted that their temporary suspension of the lower court’s deadline “should not be construed” as a ruling on the merits of the agency’s request. The appellate court order means the Mueller grand jury materials will continue to be shielded from House Democrats’ view for the time being. Howell, an Obama appointee who serves as the chief justice of the U.S. District Court in D.C., issued a sepa... Link to the full article to read more