The lone dissenter in the three-judge D.C. Court of Appeals decision was Judge Neomi Rao, who writes: > In the months following the Committee's [House Dems'] initial petition [for grand jury records, filed July 26, 2019], the House passed two articles of impeachment and the Senate conducted an impeachment trial and voted to acquit President Donald J. Trump. In light of these circumstances, I would remand to the district court to consider in the first instance whether the Committee can continue to demonstrate that its inquiry is preliminary to an impeachment proceeding and that it has a 'particularized need' for disclosure of the grand jury records. > A reasonable observer might wonder why we are deciding this case at this time. After all, the Committee sought these [grand jury] materials preliminary to an impeachment proceeding and the Senate impeachment trial has concluded. Why is this controversy not moot? The majority simply turns a blind eye to these very public events and the parties have not submitted any additional briefs[.]