Here is something important to remember:

In 1974, the Watergate prosecutor, Leon Jaworski, and his grand jury obtained a judge’s permission to send the evidence they had gathered to the House Judiciary Committee, which was already formally conducting an impeachment inquiry into Nixon. In that case, the Nixon Justice Department did not object to letting lawmakers see the materials.

Whether he was disposed to do it or not, Robert Mueller does not appear to have believed he had the authority to make a similar request. If he had attempted it, I’m sure Attorney General William Barr would have objected.

On Friday, the House Judiciary Committee moved ahead with making the request for this material on their own, without the support of the now-shuttered Office of Special Counsel and without the acquiescence of the Trump Justice Department.

The House Judiciary Committee on Friday said it would ask a federal judge to unseal grand jury secrets related to Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation and use the court filing to make the most explicit declaration yet that lawmakers are weighing whether to impeach President Trump.

In a significant escalation, Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, the Democratic chairman of the committee, said at a news conference that the application to the court would declare that the panel needs access to Mr. Mueller’s grand-jury evidence — such as witness testimony — to decide whether to recommend articles of impeachment against the president.

“Because Department of Justice policies will not allow prosecution of a sitting president, the United States House of Representatives is the only institution of the federal government that can now hold President Trump accountable for these actions,” Mr. Nadler quoted the legal filing as telling the judge, Beryl A. Howell, who supervised Mr. Mueller’s grand jury.

Unless you want to include the electorate, Jerry Nadler is absolutely correct that, given the hand’s off posture of the Department of Justice, the House of Representatives is the only entity in the country with the authority and responsibility for holding a criminal president to account. The committee with jurisdiction is the Judiciary, which Nadler presently chairs. If he doesn’t do something, then nothing will be done.

In 1974, the House Judiciary Committee was already formally investigating impeachment when Leon Jaworski decided unilaterally that they needed all the available information. So far, in 2019, the committee has not begun a formal inquiry. Some people think this distinction might be crucial on court, and why not be on the safe side? What’s the harm?

But Nadler is arguing that formalities are unnecessary because impeachment is clearly within his jurisdiction and the courts cannot deny him crucial information he needs to exercise his powers. I think he’s on solid ground here, but there’s no telling how it will turn out in front of Judge Howell, let alone a very conservative Supreme Court should it reach them on appeal.

The significant thing, I guess, is that Nadler has now gone to court to argue that he’s investigating impeachable offenses. There’s a degree of formality to that step that was previously lacking.

Maybe Rashida Tlaib will get her wish after all.