By The opinion
01 Jul 2024, 21:38 PM EDT
House Republicans file suit against Attorney General Merrick Garland as they seek audio recordings of President Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur as part of their impeachment inquiry.
The House Judiciary Committee’s lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington is the latest escalation in the fight over audio tapes of Hur’s interview with the president and his book’s ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer. Hur interviewed both men while investigating Biden’s handling of classified documents.
The congressional investigation began with the release in February of special counsel Robert Hur’s report, which found evidence that Biden, a Democrat, knowingly withheld and shared highly classified information when he was a private citizen. However, Hur concluded that criminal charges were not warranted.
Republicans, outraged by Hur’s decision, issued a subpoena seeking audio of her interviews with Biden in the spring. But the Justice Department turned over only some of the records, omitting the audio of the interview with the president.
In response, the committee said it needs the audiotapes “because they offer unique and invaluable insight into information that cannot be captured in a transcript, such as vocal tone, rhythm, inflections, verbal nuances, and other idiosyncrasies,” according to the lawsuit.Lawmakers asked the court to order the Justice Department to turn over the material.
Hur declined to pursue criminal charges against Biden for his handling of classified material he kept after serving as vice president, saying the evidence did not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Biden broke the law. The special counsel made a series of remarks about the president’s memory that infuriated the White House and provided political ammunition to Republicans.
“The audio recordings are better evidence than the transcripts of what happened during the special counsel’s interviews with President Biden and Mr. Zwonitzer,” the lawsuit states. “For example, they contain verbal and nonverbal context that is missing from a plain transcript. That verbal and nonverbal context is very important in this case because the special counsel relied on the way President Biden presented himself during the interview — ‘as a sympathetic, well-meaning older man with a short memory’ — when he ultimately recommended that President Biden not be prosecuted for illegally withholding and disclosing classified information.”
A Justice Department spokesman said the department “is reviewing the complaint and will respond to the court at the appropriate time.”
Last month , The Republican-led House of Representatives voted to hold Garland in contempt of Congress after the White House asserted executive privilege, preventing him from turning the recordings over to lawmakers.
But the Justice Department refused to accept the contempt referral, citing its longstanding policy of not prosecuting officials for refusing to turn over subpoenaed information by citing executive privilege.
The lawsuit argued that there was “no legal basis” for Garland’s refusal to hand over the audio tapes.
“Garland violated, and continues to violate, his legal obligation by refusing to produce to the Committee the audio recordings of the special counsel’s interviews with President Biden and Mark Zwonitzer when those recordings are not covered by executive privilege and, even if they were, executive privilege has been waived,” the lawsuit says.
Republicans have argued that the president waived executive privilege when the Justice Department released the interview transcripts.
House Republicans are also considering other avenues to acquire the tapes, including holding Garland in “inherent contempt,” a tool rarely used in modern times. An inherent contempt vote, which is being pushed by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, could result in the attorney general being detained, but most observers consider that outcome highly unlikely.
Keep reading:
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- Prosecutor announces end of investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents