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Politics

House GOPers moving forward with contempt charges against AG Garland over Biden tapes

By
Victor Nava
Published May 13, 2024, 7:11 p.m. ET

The House Oversight Committee announced Monday it will move forward with contempt of Congress charges against Attorney General Merrick Garland over his refusal to comply with a subpoena for audio recordings of President Biden’s interview with former Special Counsel Robert Hur. 

Hur investigated the 81-year-old president’s handling of classified documents, and released transcripts of the pair’s interaction revealed the president confused key dates during the sitdowns.

The Republican-controlled panel will hold a hearing May 16 in which members can debate and consider adding amendments to the contempt resolution before recommending the measure to the full House of Representatives for a vote. 

James Comer
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) will head a hearing on contempt charges against Attorney General Merrick Garland on May 16. Getty Images

“The House Oversight and Judiciary Committees issued lawful subpoenas to Attorney General Garland for the audio recordings of President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Hur, yet he continues to defy our subpoenas,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a statement.

A subpoena was issued against Garland on Feb. 27 for transcripts, notes, video, and audio files related to Hur’s probe.

The Justice Department has provided Congress with a transcript of Hur’s Oct. 8 and Oct. 9 interviews with Biden, which showed the president forgetting such things as the year his son Beau died of brain cancer and the year Donald Trump was elected president. 

The attorney general has refused to provide lawmakers with audio tapes of the lengthy interviews, with the DOJ fearing that they will be used to score political points.

“These audio recordings are important to our investigation of President Biden’s willful retention of classified documents and his fitness to be President of the United States,” Comer said. “There must be consequences for refusing to comply with lawful congressional subpoenas and we will move to hold Attorney General Garland in contempt of Congress.” 

Merrick Garland
Garland has refused to comply with a subpoena for audio recordings of Biden’s interview with former Special Counsel Robert Hur. REUTERS

Hur, a former Trump-appointed US attorney for the District of Maryland, submitted his findings about Biden’s handling of classified information in early February. 

His 388-page bombshell report noted there was evidence that the commander in chief  “willfully retained and disclosed classified materials,” but his team concluded there wasn’t enough to prove it “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Hur also expressed concern that a jury would perceive the oldest president in US history as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”