The Justice Department is slamming the GOP’s attempt to hold Attorney General Garland in contempt over Biden’s audio
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Monday denounced Republicans’ attempt to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt over his refusal to turn over unredacted materials related to the special counsel’s investigation into President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents .
In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, the Justice Department rejected House Republicans’ demands that the agency turn over the entire audio of special counsel Robert Hur’s hours-long interviews with Biden and his ghostwriter. Republicans had given the Justice Department until Monday to provide the audio.
Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte, the Justice Department’s chief of congressional affairs, said in the letter to Reps. James Comer and Jim Jordan that despite GOP claims to the contrary, the department has complied with each of the four elements of the subpoena sent by House Republicans in February.
“The committees’ response is difficult to explain in terms of a lack of information or frustration with any information or investigative mission, given the department’s actual behavior,” Uriarte wrote. “We are therefore concerned that the committees are disappointed not because you did not receive information, but because you did.”
He added: “We urge the Committees to avoid conflict rather than seek it out.”
The department’s resistance and apparent reluctance to provide the audio could set off a legal battle between the White House and the Republican chairs leading the contempt efforts on Capitol Hill, potentially setting up a scenario in which Biden seeks executive privilege should exercise to stop the release. of the audio recording to Congress.
The maneuvering could also delay the release of audio until after the November election.
The letter is just the latest flashpoint between Republicans investigating Biden and the Justice Department, charged with overseeing a host of politically charged federal investigations, including an investigation into the president’s son, Hunter Biden.
Hur spent a year investigating Biden’s unlawful retention of classified documents from his time as a senator and as vice president. The result was a 345-page report that questioned Biden’s age and mental competency but recommended no criminal charges be filed against the 81-year-old president, saying insufficient evidence was found to make a case for to allow the court to stand.
Last month, Hur stood by the assessment he made in his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, where he was questioned for more than four hours by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
“What I wrote is what I believe the evidence shows, and what I expect jurors to perceive and believe,” Hur told lawmakers. “I haven’t cleaned up my explanation. Nor have I unfairly discredited the president.”