By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department told Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday that it would decline to hold Congress in criminal contempt of Attorney General Merrick Garland, according to a letter which Reuters has seen.
The letter comes just two days after the Republican-controlled House voted along party lines to hold Garland in contempt for refusing to turn over audio recordings of a special counsel interview with Democratic President Joe Biden.
The ministry’s decision not to file charges comes as no surprise.
In two other previous cases in which the House of Representatives voted to hold former attorneys general Eric Holder and William Barr in contempt, a similar letter was also sent to lawmakers declining to file contempt charges.
In a statement on Friday, Johnson said he disagreed with the allegations in the Justice Department letter and that Republicans in the House of Representatives “will take action to subpoena Attorney General Garland in federal court to enforce.”
The Justice Department on Friday cited its longstanding policy against pursuing criminal charges for contempt of Congress in cases where the White House has made a legitimate claim of executive privilege, a legal doctrine that shields certain communications.
In the case of the audio recordings, the White House has previously claimed privilege and the Justice Department has said that disclosing them could complicate future investigations.
The department has already turned over a transcript of Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur, who investigated him for keeping classified data.
Hur’s report sparked a political firestorm after he declined to prosecute Biden.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; additional reporting by Kanishka Singh; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Leslie Adler)
