From the Starr Report:

18. In the course of its investigation, the O.I.C. gathered information from a variety of sources, including the testimony of witnesses before the grand jury. Normally a Federal prosecutor is prohibited by Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure from disclosing grand jury material, unless it obtains permission from a court or is otherwise authorized by law to do so. This Office concluded that the statutory obligation of disclosure imposed on an Independent Counsel by 28 U.S.C. 595(c) grants such authority. Nevertheless, out of an abundance of caution, the OIC obtained permission from the Special Division to disclose grand jury material as appropriate in carrying out its statutory duty.


The statutory provision cited above was part of the "Independent Counsel" law that expired in 1999. It read as follows:

(c) Information Relating to Impeachment.—
An independent counsel shall advise the House of Representatives of any substantial and credible information which such independent counsel receives, in carrying out the independent counsel’s responsibilities under this chapter, that may constitute grounds for an impeachment. Nothing in this chapter or section 49 of this title shall prevent the Congress or either House thereof from obtaining information in the course of an impeachment proceeding.

The statutory provisions under which Mueller acted as Special Counsel do not contain anything analogous to the expired Independent Counsel statute.

The "Special Division" referenced above was a special three-judge court (formally known as the "Division for the Purpose of Appointing Independent Counsels" established by law to select and oversee an Independent Counsel. Again, there is no such judicial body in the case of a Special Counsel investigation.