CNN
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House Republicans are set to vote Wednesday to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over audio recordings of meetings between President Joe Biden and former special counsel Robert Hur, who is investigating Biden’s handling of classified materials and has declined to press charges.
The vote marks a major escalation in a months-long dispute between House Republicans and the executive branch over the recordings, which began after Biden asserted executive privilege over the files.
Bringing a contempt charge against the nation’s top law enforcement officer would bolster Republican claims that the Justice Department is being used as an ammunition against conservatives, a claim that has intensified since former President Donald Trump was convicted in New York of falsifying business records.
House Republicans have argued throughout the subpoena battle with the Justice Department that the audio recordings are crucial to their impeachment inquiry into Biden, but the investigation remains stalled as impeachment looks increasingly unlikely.
Garland issued an op-ed ahead of the vote declaring he would not succumb to “baseless, personal and dangerous” attacks, echoing his defiance when grilled by Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee earlier this month.
House Republican leaders said Tuesday night they were confident they had a slim majority of the votes to hold Garland in contempt, but they were working behind the scenes Wednesday to lock lawmakers out ahead of a floor vote later on Wednesday.
Several House Republicans have privately expressed reservations about supporting the contempt resolution, questioning whether it would be able to pass the measure in a narrow House conference vote, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. Nevertheless, House Republicans announced Tuesday evening that a vote would take place on Wednesday.
“We’re going to introduce this bill (Wednesday) and we’re going to pass it,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told CNN.
The House took a key procedural step Wednesday morning, narrowly voting 208-207 to pass rules to debate the contempt resolution on the floor and take a final vote later that day.
If Garland were to be held in contempt, House Speaker Mike Johnson would certify the report to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, which legally requires the attorney to “present the case to a grand jury for action,” but the Justice Department would also have the discretion to decide whether to prosecute.
Democrats have used the process multiple times as they encountered uncooperative allies and former aides of Trump during their investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The Justice Department ultimately did not indict Trump aide Dan Scavino or former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, but federal prosecutors did indict Trump ally Stephen Bannon and the former White House deputy for trade. Adviser Peter Navarro will be tried for criminal contempt.
In April, CNN filed a lawsuit seeking access to recordings of Biden’s interviews.
Voice recording correspondence
The months-long standoff between House Republicans and the Justice Department began in February when the three Republican-led committees leading the impeachment inquiry issued subpoenas to the Justice Department seeking records, documents and audio recordings related to its investigation of Ho.
The department released most of the materials requested in the subpoena to House Republicans, including records of the special counsel’s interviews with Biden and his ghostwriter, as well as a transcript of Harr’s authorization to testify before Congress in March.
However, the Justice Department is sticking to its decision not to release the audio files of the interviews, arguing that Republicans have not established a legitimate legislative purpose for requesting it. The Justice Department also argues that the specific privacy concerns about audio recordings of interviews are different from those about transcripts, and that releasing such files could discourage witnesses from cooperating in future criminal investigations.
Republicans argue that access to the tapes will provide valuable information beyond what can be obtained from the written records.
“The nuances in President Biden’s responses regarding his mishandling of classified information will inform the Committee’s investigation into whether he abused the trustworthy position of his public office for the financial benefit of his family,” the committee argued in its contempt report.
Republicans also argue that the Justice Department should comply with the full scope of the subpoena rather than trying to dictate which materials will satisfy their requests.
“This is not a complicated issue,” House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said Tuesday during debate on a contempt resolution against Garland.
“The executive branch and its agencies, including the Department of Justice, are not exempt from Congress’ right to exercise oversight over those agencies. As members of the House of Representatives, it is our duty to ensure that recipients of Congressional subpoenas comply fully with the subpoena,” Comer added.
Without presenting any evidence to support his claim, Comer argued that one of the reasons Republicans want the audio files is to determine whether the records were altered, and that “it’s not enough to just take the Department of Justice’s word for it.”
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has grilled Republicans about their motives for seeking the audio files.
White House Counsel Edward Siskel accused Republicans of trying to distort the recording.
“The lack of a legitimate need for the audio recordings indicates your likely intent is to chop them up, distort them, and use them for partisan political purposes,” Siskel wrote.
Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte also accused House Republicans of wanting the recordings only for political purposes, because they gave them everything they wanted.
“The more information we get, the less complacent we become, the less justified our contempt becomes, and the more we seem to move in that direction,” Uriarte wrote.
The special counsel’s report quickly became a political problem for the president, putting a spotlight on an intractable issue for Biden: his age. Republicans seized on Huh’s description of Biden in the final report as a “well-intentioned old man with a fading memory” – a description Biden disputes and continues to attack the president ahead of the November election.
The White House and Biden campaign were infuriated by Hoare’s assessment of the president and launched a fierce defense aimed at refuting the special counsel’s assertions that Biden is forgetful, particularly on the question of whether the president remembers the year his son died.
Ahead of Wednesday’s contempt vote, Democrats blasted their Republican colleagues for pursuing contempt charges against Garland.
“Unless you start suing people for contempt who have complied with the committee’s demands, there is clearly no basis to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, said Tuesday.
Rep. Jerry Nadler, a Democrat from New York, accused Republicans of pursuing contempt charges against Garland on behalf of President Trump.
“While this resolution may boost Donald Trump’s morale ahead of his sentencing, after he was convicted of 34 felonies, it certainly will not persuade the Department of Justice to turn over the one remaining file on the matter,” he said.
CNN’s Christine Wilson and Claire Foran contributed to this report.
