Two Republican-led House committees on Thursday moved forward with measures to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for his refusal to turn over audio recordings of President Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur.
In a 18-15 party line vote on Thursday afternoon, the House Judiciary Committee approved a report recommending a contempt of Congress resolution. Late Thursday, the House Oversight Committee also advanced the proceedings in a 24-20 party line vote. The panels accused Garland of flouting a congressional subpoena requesting the files.
The votes came after Biden asserted executive privilege to block House Republicans from receiving the audio, which dealt with the investigation into his mishandling of classified documents. The audio could also provide insight into the 81-year-old president’s mental fitness.
White House counsel Edward Siskel informed House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R., Ohio.) and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R., Ky.) of the decision to invoke executive privilege. He cited Biden’s “longstanding commitment to protecting the integrity, effectiveness, and independence of the Department of Justice and its law enforcement investigation,” in a letter obtained by National Review.
The Justice Department holds that a contempt citation is not “justified” in Garland’s case. “It is the longstanding position of the executive branch held by administrations of both parties that an official who asserts the President’s claim of executive privilege cannot be prosecuted for criminal contempt of Congress,” Assistant Attorney General Carlos Felipe Uriarte wrote in a letter to the panels, according to National Public Radio.
House Republicans subpoenaed the Justice Department for all the materials from Hur’s report shortly after it was released. Although Hur did not recommend criminal charges for Biden, the investigation found that he “willfully” retained classified information following his vice presidency.
The report also noted that Biden was unable to recall events from his tenure as vice president and when his late son Beau Biden died. In the report, Hur described Biden as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
Through their subpoenas to the DOJ, Republicans argue that the tapes could be more comprehensive and illuminating than just the transcript from Hur’s sit-down with Biden and therefore essential to their impeachment inquiry.
“Transcripts do not capture demeanor evidence,” Rep. Dan Bishop (R., N.C.) said during the Judiciary hearing Thursday. “Transcripts are often imperfect, especially to convey the timing of question and answer and disfluencies of a witness, or hesitations, among other things. All of that is demeanor evidence.”
It’s unclear what the next step is for the contempt referral. House Speaker Mike Johnson hasn’t committed to bringing it to the floor.
Some Democrats in Congress accused Republicans of playing politics with their request for the audio, claiming that they hoped to use it to produce a viral soundbite clip.
“Republicans on this committee have moved from being the criminal defense firm for the president to being essentially an adjunct of the president’s media advertising firm,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) said, according to the Hill. “We’re holding the Attorney General of the United States in contempt. And for what? Because he won’t give video material for a campaign commercial to this committee on behalf of a president who is a criminal defendant in a hush money payment to a porn star case in New York, the first of many criminal trials that he will face.”