Democrats are pushing back against an impending House vote to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for his refusal to release audio recordings of President Joe Biden’s interviews with special counsel Robert Hur.
In a memo addressed to Democrats on the GOP-led House Oversight Committee, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the committee’s top Democrat, criticizes Republicans for what he calls “baseless and absurd claims of obstruction” aimed at the Attorney General.
Raskin contends in the memo that House Republicans are desperate to assign blame for the perceived failure of their impeachment inquiry into Biden. He asserts they have fabricated allegations that Garland obstructed their investigation by withholding the interview audio.
House Republicans are preparing a contempt resolution against Garland, set for a vote as soon as Wednesday. While some GOP lawmakers have not yet committed to supporting the resolution, the upcoming vote later this week indicates confidence among Republican leaders in securing its passage.
James Comer of Kentucky, chair of the House Oversight Committee, and Jim Jordan of Ohio, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, have exerted pressure on Garland and the Department of Justice to release the audio recordings of Hur’s interview with the president. This demand follows Hur’s characterization of Biden as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
The Department of Justice has refused to provide the recordings but has supplied transcripts of the interview to GOP investigators. They argue that releasing the audio could compromise future investigations if interviewees fear their statements might be made public. The Justice Department has also accused Republicans of seeking to exploit the recordings for political gain.
“I consider contempt a serious matter. However, I will not jeopardize our prosecutors’ and agents’ ability to conduct future investigations effectively. I will not be intimidated,” Garland stated during a contentious hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee last week.
Biden escalated tensions further last month by asserting executive privilege over the recordings, a move that angered Republicans and prompted them to draft contempt resolutions against Garland.
In their report recommending that the House hold Garland in contempt, GOP lawmakers argue that while they possess transcripts, the audio recordings offer “superior evidentiary value” due to their ability to convey verbal nuances and nonverbal cues, such as tone and pauses.
Raskin dismisses the notion that the recording could uncover evidence of impeachable conduct as “utterly ridiculous,” emphasizing that the existing transcripts already capture Biden’s exact words to special counsel Hur.
Republicans have persistently alleged that Biden has illicitly benefited from his family’s business dealings. Yet, their impeachment inquiry has largely faltered, as investigators have failed to uncover direct evidence linking the president to his family’s financial affairs.
“The audio recording of that interview will not alter the President’s statements in any way, nor will it magically unveil evidence of impeachable conduct that Committee Republicans have fruitlessly sought across 3.8 million pages of documents and 80 hours of testimony collected during their 17-month impeachment inquiry,” Raskin concludes in the memo.
