The House Oversight Committee announced this week that it will be officially pursuing contempt charges against Attorney General Merrick Garland for refusing to turn over recordings of the interviews between Special Counsel Robert Hur and President Joe Biden.
Hur interviewed Biden for mishandling classified documents, ultimately finding Biden was too old and his memory was too bad to seek charges; “an elderly man with a poor memory,” Hur wrote in his now-infamous report.
Oversight will hold a hearing on May 16th for members to debate amendments and resolutions before sending the full measure to the House of Representatives.
“The House Oversight and Judiciary Committees issued lawful subpoenas to Attorney General Garland for the audio recordings of President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Hur, yet he continues to defy our subpoenas,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a statement.
A subpoena was issued against Garland on Feb. 27 for transcripts, notes, video, and audio files related to Hur’s probe.
So far, only the transcripts have been released.
“These audio recordings are important to our investigation of President Biden’s willful retention of classified documents and his fitness to be President of the United States,” Comer said. “There must be consequences for refusing to comply with lawful congressional subpoenas and we will move to hold Attorney General Garland in contempt of Congress.”
Oversight released a resolution calling for Garland to be held in contempt for the following:
Resolved, That Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, shall be found to be in contempt of Congress for failure to comply with a congressional subpoena.
Resolved, That pursuant to 2 U.S.C. §§ 192 and 194, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall certify the report of the Oversight Committee, detailing the refusal of Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, to produce documents, records, and materials to the Oversight Committee as directed by subpoena, to the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, to the end that Attorney General Merrick B. Garland be proceeded against in the manner and form provided by law.
Resolved, That the Speaker of the House shall otherwise take all appropriate action to enforce the subpoena.
Will Congress be able to hold Garland accountable? We’ll know soon enough…
