Are federal grand juries secret?
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Federal grand juries are secret by design under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6E to protect the integrity of the investigation, but more importantly, to protect any witness who may testify before the grand jury so they should not suffer repercussions from people that they may be testifying against. The courts take this rule very serious. Anyone that leaks information that was revealed in the grand jury, is subject to contempt of court proceedings against them. The rule applies to anybody in the grand jury, the grand jurors, the prosecutors, court reporters. It does not, however, apply to the witnesses. Witnesses are free to say what they said in the grand jury because the rule is there for their protection. If they elect not to use the 6E protections, they can do that.