Will the Attorney General be sent to jail for Contempt of Congress after refusing to release audio recordings under subpoena? The Justice Department transcripts of this recording provided to Congress now appear to have been purposely altered by someone in the Biden Administration to deceive Congress.
In a contentious move, President Joe Biden's Department of Justice issued a memo on Wednesday asserting that Attorney General Merrick Garland is shielded from prosecution for contempt of Congress, citing Biden's executive privilege.
This memo conveniently surfaced just hours before the House of Representatives proceeded with their anticipated vote to hold Garland in contempt of Congress. The charge stemmed from Garland's refusal to comply with Congressional subpoenas demanding records linked to Special Counsel Robert Hur's inquiry into President Biden's handling of classified information.
Republicans pressed for the release of audio recordings from Hur's interview with Biden, arguing that written transcripts, provided by Garland, were insufficient. Their demand escalated after Hur disclosed Biden's instances of mental lapses and "poor memory" during the interview.
The House Committees on Oversight and Accountability and Judiciary issued subpoenas to Garland on February 27, 2024, seeking records, including the contested audio recordings, which Garland insisted on withholding.
Despite the subpoenas, Garland stood firm in his refusal to hand over the records.
The Biden administration continued to assert executive privilege over the recordings, seeking to curb Congress's constitutional oversight powers. Prior to the Judiciary and Oversight Committees' markup of their contempt resolutions on May 16, Biden invoked executive privilege over the recordings.
Subsequently, the House voted 216 to 207 to hold Garland in contempt of Congress, with only one Republican dissenting.
Given the DOJ's memo, it's highly probable that prosecutors under the Biden administration will disregard the contempt charge, which essentially serves as a recommendation to U.S. attorneys.
"The needs the committees have articulated for the recordings are plainly insufficient to overcome a privilege claim grounded in these important separation of powers concerns," the memo contends, defending the administration's stance.
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