WASHINGTON – House Republicans on Monday sued U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland over his refusal to turn over the president’s audio Joe Bideninterview with former special prosecutor Robert Hur.
The interview led Hur to describe Biden as “an older man with a bad memory” in a February report.
Concerns about Biden’s mental acuity have only grown since his lackluster debate performance on Thursday, with Republicans also saying Hur’s audio would further underscore the president’s age.
“He’s very likely going to sound on that tape the way he did on stage last night, and that’s embarrassing to the president,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters Friday. “We’re sorry about that. We’re not trying to embarrass the president. We’re trying to get behind the facts.”
The Justice Department gave Republicans a transcript of the interview but withheld the audio, saying it would harm future investigations if people thought cooperation with law enforcement would lead to sensitive conversations becoming public.
The transcript showed that Biden appeared to have trouble remembering whether his son Nice Biden was still alive when he considered running for president in 2017 and 2018. Employees reported that Beau had died in 2015.
“Was he dead in 2015?” Biden asked, according to the transcript.
Republicans first demanded the recording as part of their impeachment inquiry into Biden, which has focused on baseless allegations that Biden profited from business deals involving his surviving son. Hunter Biden.
Republicans have questioned Hur’s decision not to prosecute Biden for mishandling classified information from his time as vice president, as former President Donald Trump is facing charges of withholding classified material after he left the White House. (Trump refused to cooperate with the Justice Department and is also charged with obstruction of justice.) Hur said the fact that Biden would appear to a jury as a well-meaning old man was a factor in his decision.
The House Judiciary Committee, led by Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), on Monday asked a federal court to compel the Biden administration to comply with the committee’s subpoena for the digital audio files.
“The audio recordings, not the cold transcripts, constitute the best available evidence of how President Biden presented himself during the interview,” the complaint said.
Litigation over congressional subpoenas can be lengthy, and the litigation could even last longer than the current term of Congress, which ends at the end of this year.
Jonathan Nicholson contributed reporting.
