Washington – Two Republican-led House committees are scheduled to consider on Thursday a contempt of Congress motion against Attorney General Merrick Garland for refusing to comply with a request to record a classified documents case against President Biden.
The Justice Department announced Thursday morning that the president is asserting executive privilege over the recordings, adding another layer to the dispute with Congress.
The House Judiciary and Oversight Committees have passed a contempt motion over the department's refusal to turn over audio of former special counsel Robert Hur's October 2023 interview with the president as part of the Biden investigation. The plan was to proceed with deliberations. Handling of confidential documents.
Heo completed a year-long investigation several months ago and released his long-awaited report in February. Mr. Xu's report ultimately vindicated the president, but it also contained very important conclusions.Committee A summons was issued The Department of Justice is providing audio recordings and other materials from the investigation.
Biden claims privilege
In a letter to the committee chairman obtained by CBS News, a senior Justice Department official said Biden claimed executive privilege over Heo's recorded interviews with the president and the book's ghostwriter. The argument was made on the recommendation of the Justice Department, which asked the committees to “avoid unnecessary and unwarranted disputes” when voting on today's contempt resolution.
“While our cooperation with Congress has been exceptional, we also have a responsibility to protect the confidentiality of law enforcement files whose disclosure could jeopardize future investigations,” Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte said Thursday. “The Attorney General must draw the line to protect the Department of Justice from undue political influence and to protect our principles, our law enforcement operations, and the people who independently conduct that service.”
The Justice Department claims it has gone to “significant efforts” to comply with a parliamentary committee's requests for information and materials following Mr. Xu's investigation into the president's past handling of classified records, and the department has already twice He added that he had submitted a record of the meeting. Audio recording is currently a problem.
Committee leaders proceeded to argue that the audio recordings are “critical to our investigation into President Biden's intentional retention of classified documents and his fitness to serve as President of the United States.”
Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Kentucky) said in a statement earlier this week that “there must be consequences for refusing to respond to a lawful Congressional subpoena, and we are holding Attorney General Garland in contempt of Congress.” We will move in the direction of doing so.”
The report from the committee details how audio recordings and other records were subpoenaed as part of the purpose of determining “whether there are sufficient grounds to draft articles of impeachment against President Biden.” It claimed that the subpoenas issued to the Justice Department were part of the House impeachment inquiry.
“The Department has not invoked any constitutional or legal privilege to support withholding this material,” the report said. “Failure to fully comply with the committee's subpoena impedes the House's ability to provide adequate oversight of Special Counsel Huh regarding the findings of the investigation and the retention and disclosure of confidential presidential materials, and the committee's impeachment inquiry.'' thwarted.”
The report argues that audio recordings of interviews have “excellent evidentiary value” and that the recordings “reflect important linguistic context, such as tone and tenor, as well as non-verbal context, such as pauses and pace of speech. “It has not been done.”
But the president's assertion of executive privilege adds a new dynamic to the mix. A separate letter from the attorney general to Biden, obtained by CBS News, said the legal basis came from the Justice Department's Office of General Counsel and was agreed to by Garland himself.
“The Committee's needs are clearly insufficient to outweigh the negative impact that the production of the recordings would have on the integrity and effectiveness of future similar law enforcement investigations,” Garland wrote in a May 15 letter to the president. This was stated in a letter. We respectfully request that you assert administrative privilege over the subpoenaed recordings. We also ask that you assert protective administrative privilege with respect to other materials in response to subpoenas that have not yet been produced. ”
The attorney general wrote that he was concerned that handing over the tapes could jeopardize the cooperation of witnesses in future investigations. The White House Counsel's Office also argued that if Republican committee leaders obtained the recordings, they would likely “shred” and “distorted” them “for partisan political purposes.”
White House Counsel Edward Siskel said Thursday that “the executive branch does not take sensitive, constitutionally protected law enforcement materials like this because they want to manipulate the information for potential political gain.” It would be inappropriate to make such a request.”
Thursday's hike is expected to lead to committees voting to begin a trial to hold Mr. Garland in contempt of Congress, a highly volatile development so far. If the matter is taken out of committee, it will be brought before the House.
The resolution directs House Speaker Mike Johnson to certify that Garland has defied the subpoena and to refer the matter to the U.S. attorney in Washington for possible prosecution. is extremely low.
If the Republican-controlled Congress passes a resolution insulting Garland, he would become the latest Cabinet member to face the same fate. Former Attorney General Eric Holder was charged with contempt in 2012, and former Attorney General Bill Barr was also charged with contempt in 2019. However, neither has faced criminal charges from their respective Justice Departments.
her report
In a 345-page report released in February, Ho outlined the handling of classified documents held by Biden while he was vice president. The special counsel said the president's actions posed a “significant risk to national security,” but determined that criminal charges were “not an appropriate remedy.” Ho ultimately concluded that there was no proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Biden violated the law.
Still, Mr. Xu's report also included a series of observations about the president's memory that became fodder for Republican opposition in the weeks after its release. Most damning was Biden's claim that he couldn't remember when his son, Beau Biden, died. According to a transcript of the interview, the president had trouble identifying the year but did name the months and dates accurately.
Her testified In March, he spoke before the House Judiciary Committee, drawing criticism from both sides of the aisle. At the time, Republicans argued that the decision not to recommend charges against Biden was evidence of a two-tiered justice system, as Trump was charged with possessing classified materials. Democrats also criticized the former special counsel's findings about Biden's memory as inaccurate and unnecessary.
When asked whether Congress should have access to the recordings, Heo said, “It is not for me to consider what information Congress should or should not have.” He added: “The audio recordings were, of course, part of the evidence I considered in reaching my conclusions.”
