Attorney General Garland denounces political criticism while rejecting House GOP request for Biden audio recordings.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday condemned what he described as “unfounded attacks” on the Justice Department by congressional Republicans, as he rejected their request for audio recordings of a special counsel interview with President Joe Biden.
In a letter to the chairmen of the House Judiciary and Oversight committees, the Justice Department asserted executive privilege over the recordings of Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur regarding his retention of classified records. Executive privilege is a legal doctrine that protects certain executive branch records from disclosure.
“There have been a series of unprecedented and, frankly, unfounded attacks on the Justice Department,” Garland stated to reporters outside his office. “We have gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure that the committees get responses to their legitimate requests, but this is not one.”
House Republicans, led by figures such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, have called for Congress to cut funding to the DOJ’s prosecutions of former President Donald Trump, who is facing two federal and two state criminal prosecutions. Greene specifically targets the DOJ’s handling of Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 election results and allegations of retaining classified documents post-presidency.
Prominent Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, have attended Trump’s ongoing hush-money trial in New York, labeling it as politically motivated to undermine Trump’s campaign.
Contempt Proceedings
The House Judiciary and Oversight committees are set to take steps towards a vote to hold Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over the recordings. This move could create an awkward scenario where the Republican-controlled House asks the Justice Department to act against its attorney general.
Assistant Attorney General Carlos Felipe Uriarte wrote, “The Attorney General must draw a line that safeguards the department from improper political influence.”
President Biden is also claiming executive privilege over an audio recording of an interview with his ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer.
Garland appointed Hur last year to investigate Biden over his retention of classified records from his tenure as vice president. Hur declined to pursue criminal charges, citing Biden’s cooperation with the probe. This stands in contrast to Trump, who resisted a similar inquiry and now faces federal charges for retaining classified records.
Hur described Biden as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” a statement that drew criticism from Democrats. Biden’s age, 81, is a significant issue in the upcoming presidential election. Trump is 77.
The Justice Department has already provided various records requested by House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan and House Oversight Chairman James Comer in connection with the Hur investigation, including transcribed interviews.
White House counsel Edward Siskel accused the committees’ chairmen of seeking the recordings for political purposes, stating, “The absence of a legitimate need for the audio recordings lays bare your likely goal — to chop them up, distort them, and use them for partisan political purposes.”
Congressional Defense
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan defended the request for the recordings, arguing, “The recordings are necessary. Transcripts alone are not sufficient evidence of the state of the president’s memory.”
House Oversight Chairman James Comer added, “Clearly President Biden and his advisors fear releasing the audio recordings of his interview because it will again reaffirm to the American people that President Biden’s mental state is in decline.”
Garland reiterated his stance against what he views as Republican threats and attacks. “The effort to threaten to defund our investigations and the way in which there are contributions to an atmosphere that puts our agents and our prosecutors at risk – these are wrong,” he said.