WASHINGTON (AP) — The House of Representatives is expected to vote Wednesday on a resolution holding Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over the audio of President Joe Biden’s interview in his classified documents case, a move which comes just weeks after the White House statement. House blocked release of the recording to lawmakers.
The contempt action represents the House of Representatives’ latest and strongest rebuke of the Justice Department and Garland’s leadership, and comes against the backdrop of an extraordinary conflict over the rule of law that has animated the 2024 presidential campaign. Republicans have denounced the ongoing criminal cases against former President Donald Trump, their presumptive nominee for the White House, while making sweeping claims about what they see as corruption in Biden’s administration.
But despite Republican feelings about Garland, it remains uncertain whether House Speaker Mike Johnson can gain enough support in the chamber to pass the contempt resolution. Republicans have the smallest majority, meaning any bill that lacks Democratic support — such as the contempt resolution — could quickly collapse if even a few Republicans resign.
Republicans were outraged when Special Counsel Robert Hur declined to prosecute Biden over his handling of classified documents and quickly opened an investigation. Republican lawmakers — led by Reps. Jim Jordan and James Comer — sent a subpoena this spring for audio of Hur’s interviews with Biden. But the Justice Department turned over only some of the data and left out the audio of Hur’s interview with the president.
If efforts to cite Garland are successful, he will become the third attorney general to be held in contempt of Congress. But it’s unlikely the Justice Department — which Garland oversees — would prosecute him. The White House’s decision to exercise executive privilege over the audio recording and shield it from Congress would make it extremely difficult to bring a criminal case against Garland.
The White House has repeatedly dismissed Republicans’ motives for pursuing contempt and dismissed their efforts to obtain the audio as purely political.
Garland has defended the Justice Department, saying officials went to extraordinary lengths to provide the committees with information about special counsel Hur’s investigation, including a transcript of Biden’s interview with him.
“There has been a series of unprecedented and frankly baseless attacks on the Department of Justice,” Garland said at a news conference last month. “This request, this attempt to use contempt as a method to obtain our sensitive law enforcement records, is just the latest.”
On the final day to comply with Republicans’ subpoena for the audio, the White House blocked the release by invoking executive privilege. It said Republicans in Congress only wanted the recordings to be “dismembered” and used for political purposes.
Executive privilege gives presidents the right to withhold information from the courts, Congress, and the public to protect the confidentiality of decision-making, although this can be challenged in court.
The last time an attorney general was held in contempt was in 2019. That was when the Democratic-controlled House voted to make then-Attorney General Bill Barr the second sitting Cabinet member held in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over documents related to a special investigation into former President Donald Trump.
Years earlier, then-Attorney General Eric Holder was charged with contempt in connection with the weapons operation known as Operation Fast and Furious. In each of these cases, the Justice Department took no action against the attorney general.
The special counsel in Biden’s case, Hur, spent a year investigating the president’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. Hur said he had found insufficient evidence to successfully prosecute a case in court.
In March, Hur remained in the review testifying before the Judiciary Committee, where he was questioned for more than four hours by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
His defense did not satisfy Republicans, who insist there is a politically motivated double standard at the Justice Department, which is prosecuting former President Trump for keeping classified documents at his Florida club after he left the White House.
But there are major differences between the two probes. Biden’s team returned the documents after they were discovered, and the president cooperated with the investigation by voluntarily participating in an interview and agreeing to searches of his homes.
Trump, on the other hand, is accused of enlisting the help of aides and lawyers to hide the documents from the government and try to have potentially incriminating evidence destroyed.
