The Justice Department issued a directive asserting that Attorney General Merrick Garland cannot be prosecuted for contempt of Congress due to an executive privilege invoked by President Joe Biden.
Breitbart News reported that this memo surfaced just before the House of Representatives voted to hold Garland in contempt for his refusal to hand over specific audio recordings related to an investigation into Biden's conduct.
The contested audio recordings are part of Special Counsel Robert Hur's investigation into President Biden's handling of classified information. Despite full transcripts being available, the specific audio content was shielded by President Biden, who cited executive privilege in May this year.
The House Committees on Oversight and Accountability and Judiciary initially demanded these recordings on February 27, 2024, but AG Garland, aligning with President Biden’s stance, denied the request. This refusal escalated to a congressional vote on June 12, 2024, where a resolution to hold Garland in contempt passed narrowly by a vote of 216 to 207.
In defense, the Justice Department's memo rationalized that the availability of unredacted, written transcripts should satisfy the committees' needs, undermining the necessity to relinquish the audio recordings.
The memo argued, "Because the committees have the transcripts of the special counsel’s interviews, the needs the committees have articulated for the recordings are insufficient to overcome a privilege claim grounded in these important separations of word concerns."
Republican Congressman Gary Palmer criticized the administration's decision, highlighting the ongoing concerns over the President's mental fitness cited in the investigation. Palmer implied that the handling of the subpoena by AG Garland might reflect broader concerns about the President's ability to continue in office effectively.
According to Palmer, "This entire situation could have been avoided if the Attorney General had complied with the lawful order of Congress. The ongoing secrecy only serves to heighten public suspicion and concern."
While some political quarters criticized the President's competency, the White House was quick to refute the characterizations of President Biden as described in Hur’s findings. The administration emphasized that the notion of Biden being merely a well-meaning but forgetful elder does not align with his effective leadership and policy accomplishments.
The White House responded intensely to Hur’s depictions, stating, "The White House vehemently denied Special Counsel Hur’s depiction of President Biden as a 'sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.'"
The situation leaves the political atmosphere charged as AG Garland bears the brunt of a historic contempt vote, while the underlying allegations against President Biden see no formal charges. The withholding of the audio recordings remains a contentious issue, continuing to fuel debate in the public and political realms.
While the contempt resolution against AG Merrick Garland marks a significant event stressing the divisions within U.S. political corridors, it also underscores the robust use of executive privilege by the presidency.
The administration's decision to shield certain details from congressional scrutiny via AG Garland continues to spark debates on transparency and accountability. Meanwhile, Republicans seem poised to leverage the ongoing saga to question the capacity and transparency of President Biden's administration as the nation watches closely.
