WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Merrick Garland will not be prosecuted for contempt of Congress because his refusal to turn over audio of President Joe Biden’s interview in his classified case case “did not constitute a crime,” it said Department of Justice Friday.
In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Justice Department official cited the department’s longstanding policy of charging officials who fail to comply with subpoenas over the president’s claim of privilege. executive power, not to prosecute.
The Democratic president exercised executive privilege last month and blocked the release of the audio, which the White House said Republicans only want for political purposes.
The Justice Department’s decision comes days after the House voted along party lines to hold Garland in contempt of Congress.
Republicans were outraged when special counsel Robert Hur declined to prosecute Biden over his handling of classified documents and quickly launched 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 the president’s interview.
The attorney general has said the Justice Department has gone to extraordinary lengths to provide lawmakers with information about Hur’s investigation. However, Garland has said that releasing the audio could jeopardize future sensitive and high-profile investigations because future witnesses would worry about cooperating with authorities.
Executive privilege protects a president’s ability to receive candid advice from his advisors without fear of immediate disclosure and protects confidential communications related to official responsibilities.
Garland is the third attorney general to be prosecuted for contempt of Congress.
Before Garland, Bill Barr was the last attorney general to be held in contempt in 2019. Then the Democratic-controlled House voted to refer Barr after he refused to turn over documents related to a special counsel investigation into 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. Hur said he had found insufficient evidence to successfully prosecute a case in court.
A transcript of the Hur interview showed that Biden had trouble remembering some dates and occasionally mixed up some details — something longtime aides say he has been doing for years, both publicly and privately — but otherwise showed deep memory in other areas. Biden and his aides are particularly sensitive to questions about his age. At 81 years old, he is the oldest president ever, and he is seeking a new four-year term.
