Attorney General Merrick Garland has been held in contempt of Congress.
The vote in favor of contempt was over Garland’s refusal to hand over audio recordings related to President Joe Biden’s interview about classified documents with Justice Department special counsel Robert Hur.
The vote was by party line with one Republican voting against, Rep. Dave Joyce of Ohio, according to Fox News’ Chad Pergram.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Wednesday before the vote that the action had to be taken because Garland is refusing to comply with a “lawful subpoena.”
During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on June 4, Republicans demanded that Garland hand over the audio recordings. The Hur interviews with the president were prompted by the charge that Biden mishandled classified documents after his time as vice president.
A transcript of Hur’s discussions with Biden has already been released. However, the president has withheld the audio recording, claiming executive privilege. Republicans argue that the full audio recordings would give the public a full picture of Biden’s mental state.
That’s because the special counsel recommended not prosecuting Biden because he came off in the lengthy interview as an “elderly man with a poor memory” and said the president’s “diminished faculties” mean he was less likely to have willfully violated the law.
Garland also refused to hand over the audio, which is what prompted Republicans in the House to move for holding him in contempt.
Two former aides to former President Donald Trump, Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon, have been sentenced to jail for being held in contempt of Congress.
However, former Attorney General Eric Holder, who was held in contempt of Congress while serving under President Barack Obama, did not face prosecution. Obama’s DOJ inspector general refused to prosecute Holder.
Garland has said that the Justice Department went to great lengths to cooperate with Congress on the Hur investigation, but that the request for audio constituted a larger attack on the DOJ.
“There have been a series of unprecedented and, frankly, unfounded attacks on the Justice Department,” Garland said in a press conference in May, The Associated Press reported. “This request, this effort to use contempt as a method of obtaining our sensitive law enforcement files is just the most recent.”
Republicans argued in debates on the House floor that withholding information from Congress interferes with the legislative branch’s ability to provide a check on the power of the president.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, said on the House floor on Wednesday that Biden misled the American people about his handling of classified documents and that the president needs to be held accountable.
“President Biden’s Department of Justice appears to be taking every step to insulate him from the consequences—whether it’s hiding these audio recordings or attempting to give Hunter Biden a sweetheart plea deal to shield Joe Biden from facing any accountability for his role in his family’s influence-peddling schemes,” Comer said. “That is unacceptable.”
After the vote for contempt, Comer put out a statement saying that this was done to hold Garland accountable.
Congressional Democrats have opposed the attempt to retrieve the special counsel’s audio recording.
“This is what they want to do, because they don’t have the votes to impeach Joe Biden, right? That’s why they did Merrick Garland,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., said, as reported by Fox News. “That’s why they went after [Hunter Biden]. It’s all trying to please their base because Congress doesn’t want to do what Donald Trump wants, which is to impeach Joe Biden, so they can have even scores.”
Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., said in a statement that the American people have a right to hear what was said between Biden and Hur.
“Merrick Garland is not above the law,” Gosar said. “His continued refusal to provide the lawfully subpoenaed audio recordings is an affront to Congress’ legal authority and it is a crime. For refusing to cooperate with Congress and for breaking the law, I voted to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in Contempt of Congress.”
This is breaking news and will be updated.
