The Justice Department notified House Republicans on Thursday that President Joe Biden has formally claimed executive privilege over audio of a meeting with special counsel Robert Hur, who investigated Biden’s handling of classified documents.
Although the department claims it effectively protects Attorney General Merrick Garland from any criminal prosecution, Republican lawmakers moved forward anyway to hold him in contempt of Congress.
The Republican-led House Oversight Committee late Thursday approved a report 24-20 recommending a contempt of Congress motion against Garland for failing to turn over an audio recording of Biden’s meeting with special counsel Robert Hur.
The Garland contempt resolution is now before the House for a vote. It is not clear when the vote will take place, but House Speaker Johnson’s office told ABC News that the vote will not be tomorrow, Friday.
Republicans had sought access to audio recordings of Mr. Hsu’s interview with Mr. Biden as part of the president’s stalled impeachment inquiry.
The Justice Department previously provided transcripts of Biden’s interviews to House Republicans. The White House cited concerns that the tapes could be improperly manipulated by Republican lawmakers, among its reasons for asserting executive privilege.
The special counsel’s year-long investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents ended without recommending criminal charges because there was not enough evidence to support a conviction.
However, Mr. The 388-page report released by Mr. Xu caused a political firestorm because it detailed the cases described by Mr. Either his son died or what year he was vice president. Republicans pounced on the report’s claims about Biden’s mental fitness, but the White House pushed back.
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan said Thursday when the committee met to mark up the contempt report that the audio recordings were “necessary” and that the recordings alone were “not sufficient to show the state of the president’s memory.” It’s not evidence.”
“President Biden and his advisers are clearly afraid to release the audio recording of this interview because it would serve as yet another reminder to the American people of President Biden’s deteriorating mental health,” House Oversight Chairman James Comer said in a statement obtained by ABC News.
Garland made rare public comments to reporters outside his official residence Thursday morning, accusing House Republicans of launching a series of “unprecedented” and “baseless” attacks on the Justice Department.
Garland defended the decision, saying, “The committee has gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure that legitimate requests are met, but this is not the case.” “Instead, it undermines our ability to successfully conduct sensitive investigations in the future.”
The attorney general added: “Look, the only thing I can do is continue to do the right thing. I’m going to protect this building and the people who live in it.”
A year-long investigation by Mr. Hsu into Mr. Biden’s handling of classified documents ended with no criminal charges recommended because the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction. But the 388-page report released by Mr. Ta.
House Republicans were first informed of the privilege decision in a letter from Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte, who praised the department’s “extraordinary” cooperation in providing Republicans with all relevant materials related to the Herr investigation and ” He cited “sincere” efforts.
In his letter, Uriarte further details how the department previously released the recording of Biden’s interview with Herr, and Republicans have offered no reason why the audio would add value to Biden’s investigative efforts. claimed not to have done so.
Uriarte discussed the remaining materials Republicans are seeking, including audio of an interview with Biden’s ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer, as he explained his move to formally claim executive privilege from Biden. , pointed to longstanding Justice Department policy and said it was “the view of officials held by administrations of both parties.” Someone who argues that the president’s claims of executive privilege cannot be prosecuted for contempt of Congress. ”
“Given the information we currently have, the commission should not proceed with contempt and should avoid unnecessary and unwarranted conflict,” Uriarte said.
White House Counsel Ed Siskel also sent a letter to Jordan and Comer explaining the decision to claim executive privilege over the recordings.
In his statement, Siskel argued that Biden has a responsibility to protect executive branch law enforcement from “unreasonable partisan interference.”
“The lack of a legitimate need for the audio recordings exposes the likely purpose of chopping them up, distorting them, and using them for partisan political purposes,” Siskel wrote.
ABC News’ Mary Bruce, Lauren Peller and Will Stekin contributed to this report.
