It was not appropriate. First, what happens in a grand jury is secret. It is never supposed to be released unless it is the result of a grand jury investigation. There is a reason for this. In general, the accused never has a chance to defend itself, although the brief is often accepted as accurate fact. It is so to speak, only one side of the story. People who are accused by a grand jury are frequently found innocent. Indeed, once the other side of the story is heard, the case is frequently dropped before getting to court.

Schiff said it was appropriate to release the brief. Then again, he has a record of saying that there was collusion between Trump and Russia and he had proof of it. We now know he never had proof. When asked to produce it, he didn’t. I assure you, he hates Trump so much that if he had the proof, he would have produced it and he didn’t. because the proof was that there was never collusion. I wouldn’t believe the man if he was telling me the time of day. When a person has a long record of lying, we can only assume that when he speaks, he is likely lying.

Consider, someone says that you held up a bank and it went before a grand jury. You would likely never know it. If the grand jury is acting properly, they look at the evidence and see you did not hold up the bank and return a “no bill.” As a result, your life is never interrupted and your good name is not soiled. That is the way a grand jury is supposed to work.

Those on the grand jury are sworn to secrecy, which prevents the prosecutor or anyone on the grand jury from ruining your reputation. Now, that grand jury accusations are in public and Trump was never given the chance to build a defense. It is not the way our justice system is supposed to work. It is not the way you’d want it used on you. At the very least, it should have been accompanied with a statement that it is only an accusation that has yet to be proved.

Moreover, and more important, those that have heard or read the brief should realize that any and all all the statements in the brief have yet to be proved and they should not be accredited as fact.

Finally, any and all statements made by anyone based on that brief should not be treated as fact until, if and when they are proved. Hence, in the news media who use the brief as fact should be utterly disregarded as a legitimate source of reliable news.