The Department of Justice is pushing back on a federal court order to turn over the grand jury testimony that acting U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan used to secure an indictment against former FBI Director James Comey to the defense counsel.

This week, Senior U.S. District Court Judge Cameron McGowan Currie surprised some legal observers by taking the unusual step of ordering the grand jury testimony turned over to Comey's team, as grand jury material usually stays permanently sealed and discovery involving it is rare. This could potentially be a sign the judge thinks misconduct may have occurred to persuade the grand jury to indict Comey, which would be grounds for dismissing the case before it even gets to the merits. The magistrate judge also ordered these documents turned over.

However, a new filing from the government appeals the decision of the magistrate judge.

"The order exceeds the scope of the Magistrate Judge’s delegated authority and was entered without the necessary findings that the defendant has shown particularized and factually based grounds exist for disclosure and that the need for disclosure outweighs the long-established public interest in grand jury secrecy," stated the appeal. "The government respectfully requests that the Court vacate the Magistrate Judge’s order or, in the alternative, stay the order pending consideration of the parties’ briefing and oral argument on the defendant’s Motion to Disclose Grand Jury Proceedings."

Comey is being charged with false statements and obstruction of justice, based on testimony he gave to the U.S. Senate about leaks from the FBI to the press. It was controversially only brought after Trump replaced the previous U.S. attorney with Halligan, with the express purpose of finding someone who would bring cases of this nature.

Experts think even if the case can surmount the grand jury issues, it is weak on the merits. For example, the testimony Comey gave doesn't appear to be false, and the charging documents actually misquote what Comey said in the first place.