Skip to main content
CRM 2000 - 2500

2053. Disclosure Of Grand Jury Information To An Intelligence Agency

Exceptions to the general rule of secrecy as to grand jury proceedings, include disclosure to:

  1. ...such government personnel...as are deemed necessary by an attorney for the government to assist an attorney for the government in the performance of such attorney's duty to enforce Federal criminal law.

Fed.R.Crim.P. 6(e)(3)(A)(ii).

An "attorney for the government" is defined in the Fed.R.Crim.P. 1(b) as including the Attorney General, an authorized assistant of the Attorney General, a USA, and an authorized AUSA. That term does not include an attorney for a county or state government, e.g., In re Special February 1971 Grand Jury v. Conlisk, 490 F.2d 894, 896 (7th Cir. 1973) nor does it include an attorney for an administrative agency. In re Grand Jury Proceedings, 309 F.2d 440, 443 (3d Cir. 1962).

If disclosure of grand jury material to IC personnel is required to properly frame a file search request to the IC, that disclosure is permitted under Rule 6(e)(3)(A)(ii). See United States v. Lartey, 716 F.2d 955, 963-64 (2d Cir. 1983); In re Perlin, 589 F.2d 260, 268-69 (7th Cir. 1978). As with disclosure to Federal law enforcement agencies, Rule 6(e)(3)(B) requires that the attorney for the government notify the court of the names of the particular IC personnel to whom disclosure is made, and certify that those persons have been advised of the restrictions placed on the use and dissemination of grand jury materials.

[updated October 2012] [cited in JM 9-90.210]