Published on: Tuesday, July 20, 2021

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is pushing to add a 50-year delay to when courts can consider releasing federal grand jury records and would separately allow gag orders to be applied more broadly to witnesses, apparently seeking to follow through with recommendations that were made by the previous administration (article available here).

This potential move has been criticized as it would add a significant degree of secrecy to federal courts and investigations.

Grand jury records are often never released to the public, but a judge may sometimes rule that other interests call for the records to be released, such as in the Watergate case that lead to former President Nixon resigning as president.