(a) Summoning a Grand Jury.
(1) In General. When the public interest so requires, the
court must order that one or more grand juries be summoned.
A grand jury must have 16 to 23 members, and the court must
order that enough legally qualified persons be summoned to
meet this requirement.
(2) Alternate Jurors. When a grand jury is selected, the court
may also select alternate jurors. Alternate jurors must have
the same qualifications and be selected in the same manner as
any other juror. Alternate jurors replace jurors in the same se-
quence in which the alternates were selected. An alternate
juror who replaces a juror is subject to the same challenges,
takes the same oath, and has the same authority as the other
jurors.
(b) Objection to the Grand Jury or to a Grand Juror.
(1) Challenges. Either the government or a defendant may
challenge the grand jury on the ground that it was not law-
fully drawn, summoned, or selected, and may challenge an in-
dividual juror on the ground that the juror is not legally
qualified.
(2) Motion to Dismiss an Indictment. A party may move to
dismiss the indictment based on an objection to the grand jury
or on an individual juror’s lack of legal qualification, unless
(b)(1). The motion to dismiss is governed by 28 U.S.C.
§1867(e). The court must not dismiss the indictment on the
ground that a grand juror was not legally qualified if the
record shows that at least 12 qualified jurors concurred in the
indictment.
(c) Foreperson and Deputy Foreperson. The court will appoint
one juror as the foreperson and another as the deputy foreperson.
In the foreperson’s absence, the deputy foreperson will act as the
foreperson. The foreperson may administer oaths and affirmations
and will sign all indictments. The foreperson—or another juror
designated by the foreperson—will record the number of jurors
concurring in every indictment and will file the record with the
clerk, but the record may not be made public unless the court so
orders.
(d) Who May Be Present.
(1) While the Grand Jury Is in Session. The following persons
may be present while the grand jury is in session: attorneys
for the government, the witness being questioned, interpreters
when needed, and a court reporter or an operator of a record-
ing device.
(2) During Deliberations and Voting. No person other than
the jurors, and any interpreter needed to assist a hearing-im-
paired or speech-impaired juror, may be present while the
grand jury is deliberating or voting.
(e) Recording and Disclosing the Proceedings.
(1) Recording the Proceedings. Except while the grand jury is
deliberating or voting, all proceedings must be recorded by a
court reporter or by a suitable recording device. But the valid-
ity of a prosecution is not affected by the unintentional fail-
ure to make a recording. Unless the court orders otherwise, an
attorney for the government will retain control of the record-
ing, the reporter’s notes, and any transcript prepared from
those notes.
(2) Secrecy.
(A) No obligation of secrecy may be imposed on any per-
son except in accordance with Rule 6(e)(2)(B).
(B) Unless these rules provide otherwise, the following
persons must not disclose a matter occurring before the
grand jury:
(i) a grand juror;
(ii) an interpreter;
(iii) a court reporter;
(iv) an operator of a recording device;
(v) a person who transcribes recorded testimony;
(vi) an attorney for the government; or
(vii) a person to whom disclosure is made under Rule
6(e)(3)(A)(ii) or (iii).
(3) Exceptions.
(A) Disclosure of a grand-jury matter—other than the
grand jury’s deliberations or any grand juror’s vote—may
be made to:
(i) an attorney for the government for use in per-
forming that attorney’s duty;
(ii) any government personnel—including those of a
state, state subdivision, Indian tribe, or foreign gov-
ernment—that an attorney for the government consid-
ers necessary to assist in performing that attorney’s
duty to enforce federal criminal law; or
(iii) a person authorized by 18 U.S.C. §
3322.
(B) A person to whom information is disclosed under
Rule 6(e)(3)(A)(ii) may use that information only to assist
an attorney for the government in performing that attor-
ney’s duty to enforce federal criminal law. An attorney for
the government must promptly provide the court that im-
paneled the grand jury with the names of all persons to
whom a disclosure has been made, and must certify that
the attorney has advised those persons of their obligation
of secrecy under this rule.
(C) An attorney for the government may disclose any
grand-jury matter to another federal grand jury.
(D) An attorney for the government may disclose any
grand-jury matter involving foreign intelligence, counter-
intelligence (as defined in 50 U.S.C. §
3003), or foreign intel-
ligence information (as defined in Rule 6(e)(3)(D)(iii)) to
any federal law enforcement, intelligence, protective, im-
migration, national defense, or national security official
to assist the official receiving the information in the per-
formance of that official’s duties. An attorney for the gov-
ernment may also disclose any grand-jury matter involv-
ing, within the United States or elsewhere, a threat of at-
tack or other grave hostile acts of a foreign power or its
agent, a threat of domestic or international sabotage or
terrorism, or clandestine intelligence gathering activities
by an intelligence service or network of a foreign power or
by its agent, to any appropriate federal, state, state sub-
division, Indian tribal, or foreign government official, for
the purpose of preventing or responding to such threat or
activities.
(i) Any official who receives information under Rule
6(e)(3)(D) may use the information only as necessary in
the conduct of that person’s official duties subject to
any limitations on the unauthorized disclosure of such
information. Any state, state subdivision, Indian trib-
al, or foreign government official who receives infor-
mation under Rule 6(e)(3)(D) may use the information
only in a manner consistent with any guidelines issued
by the Attorney General and the Director of National
Intelligence.
(ii) Within a reasonable time after disclosure is made
under Rule 6(e)(3)(D), an attorney for the government
must file, under seal, a notice with the court in the
district where the grand jury convened stating that
such information was disclosed and the departments,
agencies, or entities to which the disclosure was made.
(iii) As used in Rule 6(e)(3)(D), the term ‘‘foreign in-
telligence information’’ means:
(a) information, whether or not it concerns a
United States person, that relates to the ability of
the United States to protect against—
• actual or potential attack or other grave hos-
tile acts of a foreign power or its agent;
• sabotage or international terrorism by a for-
eign power or its agent; or
• clandestine intelligence activities by an intel-
ligence service or network of a foreign power or by
its agent; or
(b) information, whether or not it concerns a
United States person, with respect to a foreign
power or foreign territory that relates to—
• the national defense or the security of the
United States; or
• the conduct of the foreign affairs of the
United States.
(E) The court may authorize disclosure—at a time, in a
manner, and subject to any other conditions that it di-
rects—of a grand-jury matter:
(i) preliminarily to or in connection with a judicial
proceeding;
(ii) at the request of a defendant who shows that a
ground may exist to dismiss the indictment because of
a matter that occurred before the grand jury;
(iii) at the request of the government, when sought
by a foreign court or prosecutor for use in an official
criminal investigation;
(iv) at the request of the government if it shows that
the matter may disclose a violation of State, Indian
tribal, or foreign criminal law, as long as the disclo-
sure is to an appropriate state, state-subdivision, In-
dian tribal, or foreign government official for the pur-
pose of enforcing that law; or
(v) at the request of the government if it shows that
the matter may disclose a violation of military crimi-
nal law under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, as
long as the disclosure is to an appropriate military of-
ficial for the purpose of enforcing that law.
(F) A petition to disclose a grand-jury matter under Rule
6(e)(3)(E)(i) must be filed in the district where the grand
jury convened. Unless the hearing is ex parte—as it may be
when the government is the petitioner—the petitioner
must serve the petition on, and the court must afford a
reasonable opportunity to appear and be heard to:
(i) an attorney for the government;
(ii) the parties to the judicial proceeding; and
(iii) any other person whom the court may designate.
(G) If the petition to disclose arises out of a judicial pro-
ceeding in another district, the petitioned court must
transfer the petition to the other court unless the peti-
tioned court can reasonably determine whether disclosure
is proper. If the petitioned court decides to transfer, it
must send to the transferee court the material sought to
be disclosed, if feasible, and a written evaluation of the
need for continued grand-jury secrecy. The transferee
court must afford those persons identified in Rule
6(e)(3)(F) a reasonable opportunity to appear and be heard.
(4) Sealed Indictment. The magistrate judge to whom an in-
dictment is returned may direct that the indictment be kept
secret until the defendant is in custody or has been released
pending trial. The clerk must then seal the indictment, and no
person may disclose the indictment’s existence except as nec-
essary to issue or execute a warrant or summons.
(5) Closed Hearing. Subject to any right to an open hearing
in a contempt proceeding, the court must close any hearing to
the extent necessary to prevent disclosure of a matter occur-
ring before a grand jury.
(6) Sealed Records. Records, orders, and subpoenas relating
to grand-jury proceedings must be kept under seal to the ex-
tent and as long as necessary to prevent the unauthorized dis-
closure of a matter occurring before a grand jury.
(7) Contempt. A knowing violation of Rule 6, or of any guide-
lines jointly issued by the Attorney General and the Director
of National Intelligence under Rule 6, may be punished as a
contempt of court.
(f) Indictment and Return. A grand jury may indict only if at
least 12 jurors concur. The grand jury—or its foreperson or deputy
foreperson—must return the indictment to a magistrate judge in
open court. To avoid unnecessary cost or delay, the magistrate
judge may take the return by video teleconference from the court
where the grand jury sits. If a complaint or information is pending
against the defendant and 12 jurors do not concur in the indict-
ment, the foreperson must promptly and in writing report the
lack of concurrence to the magistrate judge.
(g) Discharging the Grand Jury. A grand jury must serve until
the court discharges it, but it may serve more than 18 months
only if the court, having determined that an extension is in the
public interest, extends the grand jury’s service. An extension
may be granted for no more than 6 months, except as otherwise
provided by statute.
(h) Excusing a Juror. At any time, for good cause, the court may
excuse a juror either temporarily or permanently, and if perma-
nently, the court may impanel an alternate juror in place of the
excused juror.
(i) ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ Defined. ‘‘Indian tribe’’ means an Indian tribe
recognized by the Secretary of the Interior on a list published in
the Federal Register under 25 U.S.C. §
479a–1.1