Opinion ID: 511548
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Intervention of the Department of Justice

Text: 16 Appellant first challenges the District Court's grant of the Department's motions to intervene and to file an ex parte affidavit under seal. It is not clear whether the court granted intervention of right under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a) or permissive intervention under Rule 24(b). Even assuming that the requirements for intervention of right were not satisfied, permissive intervention is clearly authorized. The Department's assertion of the law enforcement investigatory privilege involves the same legal question as that asserted by the SEC. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(b)(2). 17 Appellant's objections to the motions really go to the merits of the Department's assertion of the privilege. However, the Department made a plausible claim of law enforcement investigatory privilege which the District Court properly accepted for the purpose of deciding the motion to intervene. See United States v. American Tel. and Tel. Co., 642 F.2d 1285, 1293 (D.C.Cir.1980). The District Court's orders granting the Department's motions to intervene and to file an ex parte affidavit under seal are affirmed. 2