House Republicans have filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Merrick Garland, seeking access to the audio recording of President Joe Biden’s interview with a special counsel regarding his classified documents case. The legal action, initiated by the House Judiciary Committee, aims to enforce their subpoena and counter the White House’s attempt to withhold the materials from Congress by asserting executive privilege.
This lawsuit represents the latest clash between Republicans and the Justice Department, highlighting the partisan tensions that are shaping the 2024 presidential campaign. The White House had previously blocked Garland from releasing the audio recording to Congress, prompting House Republicans to vote to hold Garland in contempt of Congress. However, the Justice Department declined to act on the contempt referral, citing its longstanding practice of not prosecuting officials who defy subpoenas due to a president’s claim of executive privilege.
According to the lawsuit, Speaker Mike Johnson made a final attempt to resolve the issue with Garland without resorting to legal action, but Garland referred the Republicans to the White House, which rejected the effort to find a solution. Garland has defended the Justice Department’s actions, stating that officials have provided extensive information to the committees about special counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents, including a transcript of Biden’s interview.
The congressional inquiry began after Hur’s report in February, which found evidence that Biden had willfully retained and shared highly classified information when he was a private citizen. Despite this, the special counsel concluded that criminal charges were not warranted. Republicans, dissatisfied with Hur’s decision, issued a subpoena for the audio of his interviews with Biden. The Justice Department, however, only provided some of the records, excluding the audio of the president’s interview.
The lawsuit argues that the audio recordings are crucial for assessing how President Biden presented himself during the interview, which is essential for evaluating the special counsel’s characterization of the president and the decision not to prosecute him. On the deadline to comply with the subpoena, the White House invoked executive privilege to block the release of the audio, accusing Republicans of seeking the recordings for political purposes.
Republicans contend that access to both the audio recordings and transcripts is necessary to determine if legislative reforms are needed for the storage, handling, and disclosure of sensitive documents by executive branch members. Prolonging the investigation also keeps attention on politically damaging parts of Hur’s report as Biden seeks reelection against former President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee.
Hur’s report included critical assessments of Biden’s handling of sensitive government records and unflattering characterizations of the president’s memory, raising questions about his competency and age. Republicans argue that the audio recordings and transcripts are the best evidence of the president’s mental state.
Executive privilege allows presidents to keep certain information confidential to protect decision-making processes, though it can be challenged in court. Both Democratic and Republican administrations have maintained that officials who assert a president’s claim of executive privilege cannot be prosecuted for contempt of Congress. Assistant Attorney General Carlos Felipe Uriarte cited a 2008 decision where a committee backed down from a contempt effort after President George W. Bush asserted executive privilege.
The White House and congressional Democrats have criticized Republicans’ motives, dismissing their efforts to obtain the audio as purely political. They also noted that Rep. Jim Jordan, the GOP chair of the House Judiciary Committee, defied his own congressional subpoena in the previous session.
The outcome of the lawsuit against Garland remains uncertain, as courts have not extensively ruled on executive privilege. However, in the 1974 case involving President Richard Nixon’s refusal to release Oval Office recordings during the Watergate investigation, the Supreme Court ruled that the privilege is not absolute and that the need for documents or testimony may outweigh arguments for withholding them.
The rapid sequence of events has further inflamed tensions between House Republicans and the Justice Department, setting the stage for another round of bitter disputes between the two branches of government. If successful, Garland would become the third attorney general to be held in contempt of Congress.
The White House has dismissed Republicans’ efforts as politically motivated, with White House counsel Ed Siskel accusing them of seeking the audio recordings to manipulate them for partisan purposes. Garland has advised Biden that the audio falls within the scope of executive privilege, which protects a president’s ability to obtain candid counsel from advisers without fear of immediate public disclosure.
Garland has emphasized that the Justice Department has gone to great lengths to provide information to the committees about Hur’s investigation, including a transcript of Biden’s interview. However, he warned that releasing the audio could jeopardize future sensitive and high-profile investigations, as it might make future witnesses reluctant to cooperate.
The Justice Department has cautioned Congress that a contempt effort would create unnecessary conflict, with Uriarte stating that it is the longstanding position of the executive branch that officials asserting executive privilege cannot be held in contempt of Congress. Siskel’s letter to lawmakers highlighted concerns about how potentially embarrassing moments from Biden’s interview could be exacerbated by the release of the audio.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has accused Biden of suppressing the tape to avoid having voters hear it during an election year. House Democrats, on the other hand, have defended Biden’s rationale, citing the extensive documents and witnesses made available to Republicans as part of their investigation into Biden and his family.
The contempt effort is seen by Democrats as a last-ditch attempt to keep Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into Biden alive, despite setbacks and waning support within the GOP. A transcript of Hur’s interview showed Biden struggling to recall some dates and occasionally confusing details but otherwise demonstrating deep recall in other areas.
Hur, a former senior official in the Trump administration Justice Department, was appointed as a special counsel in January 2023 following the discovery of classified documents in multiple locations tied to Biden. Hur’s report indicated that many of the documents were retained by mistake, but investigators found evidence of willful retention and disclosure related to a subset of records found in Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware, house.
Source: Associated Press
