"The U.S. Constitution requires that any prosecution of a serious federal crime be initiated by “a
presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury.” The “[g]rand [j]ury” contemplated by the Constitution is a
temporary, citizen-comprised body that obtains evidence and considers whether it is sufficient to justify
criminal charges in a particular case. Though a grand jury works with federal prosecutors and functions
under judicial auspices, it is considered an independent “constitutional fixture in its own right” that
“belongs to no branch of the institutional Government, serving as a kind of buffer . . . between the
Government and the people.” One long-established principle that has been deemed essential to the grand
jury’s functioning and independence is that matters occurring before it are to be kept secret. Secrecy
prevents those under scrutiny from fleeing or importuning the grand jurors, encourages full disclosure by
witnesses, and protects the innocent from unwarranted prosecution. For these and other reasons,
prosecutors, the jurors themselves, and most others involved in grand jury proceedings are generally
prohibited from revealing “such matters as the identities or addresses of witnesses or jurors, the substance
of testimony, the strategy or direction of the investigation, the deliberations or questions of jurors, and the
like.” The prohibition endures even after a grand jury’s work is completed..."
Grand jury material
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