In a Presidential Memoranda issued on December 22, President Trump expanded the authority of the Attorney General to use classified information as necessary, including in a ‘grand jury or other proceeding’ in the current criminal investigation into intelligence issues of the 2016 presidential campaigns and related matters.
“In a memorandum of May 23, 2019, I directed the heads of elements of the intelligence community, as defined in 50 U.S.C. 3003(4), and the heads of each department or agency that includes an element of the intelligence community, to assist the Attorney General in connection with that review, and authorized the Attorney General to declassify, downgrade, or direct the declassification or downgrading of information or intelligence that relates to his review. In addition, the Attorney General is authorized to use classified information as he deems necessary in connection with his review, including in a grand jury or other proceeding.”
The addition allows the Attorney General and his appointees, such as John Durham, to access as well as ‘use’ classified information important to a grand jury or other legal proceeding. This addition is important in that it directs intelligence agencies to make information available, possibly to juries as well as the investigators themselves.
