JUDGE PLACES TEMPORARY HOLD ON EX-WHITE HOUSE LAWYER RULING

WASHINGTON A U.S. judge on Wednesday agreed to impose a temporary delay on her ruling requiring former White House Counsel Don McGahn to testify to lawmakers as part of the Democrat-led impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump.

Washington-based U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said in an order that the weeklong delay would give her time to rule on whether to put the case on hold longer term so that the Justice Department can appeal.

Earlier, the Justice Department filed a second emergency application to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit asking that court to put the litigation on hold after Jackson did not immediately act on its earlier request.

Justice Department lawyers said the filing was “in an abundance of caution” in order to ensure that they could then turn to the Supreme Court in a timely fashion if their request is rejected.