US House Republicans vote to hold Attorney General Garland in contempt

WASHINGTON

Republicans in the US House of Representatives voted Wednesday to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for his refusal to hand over audio recordings of President Joe Biden's interview with federal investigators in his classified documents case.

The 216-207 vote saw all Republicans vote in support of holding Garland in contempt. Representative David Joyce was the sole Republican to join Democrats in opposition.

"It is up to Congress -- not the Executive Branch -- to determine what materials it needs to conduct its own investigations, and there are consequences for refusing to comply with lawful Congressional subpoenas," House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement following the vote.

"The Committees need the audio tapes to verify the accuracy of the written transcripts, given this White House has been known to heavily edit the President's statements. This is a simple matter -- we have the transcript, and we need the audio," he added.

Garland, however, said the Republican action "has turned a serious congressional authority into a partisan weapon."

"Today’s vote disregards the constitutional separation of powers, the Justice Department’s need to protect its investigations, and the substantial amount of information we have provided to the Committees," the nation's top law enforcement official said in a statement.

"I will always stand up for this Department, its employees, and its vital mission to defend our democracy," he added.

The White House claimed executive privilege over the recording sought by Republicans on the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees, all but preventing and making any potential criminal prosecution over the matter highly unlikely. Republicans claimed that Garland waived privilege when he handed over transcripts of the interview with special counsel Robert Hur.

In explaining the decision to claim executive privilege, White House Counsel Edward Siskel said the transcripts and other documents handed over "more than satisfy your articulated needs for this information."

The continued requests for the transcripts, Siskel said, "lays bare your likely goal—to
chop them up, distort them, and use them for partisan political purposes."

"Demanding such sensitive and constitutionally-protected law enforcement materials from the Executive Branch because you want to manipulate them for potential political gain is inappropriate," he wrote in a letter to the chairmen of the Judiciary and Oversight Committees.

The classified documents case concluded earlier this year without criminal charges against Biden for his retention of classified documents after he left office during the Obama administration.