{"id":2238614,"date":"2024-05-06T17:47:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-06T21:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republicans-to-hold-garland-in-contempt-over-audio-of-biden-interview-with-hur\/"},"modified":"2024-05-06T17:49:09","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T21:49:09","slug":"republicans-to-hold-garland-in-contempt-over-audio-of-biden-interview-with-hur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republicans-to-hold-garland-in-contempt-over-audio-of-biden-interview-with-hur\/","title":{"rendered":"Republicans plan to cite Garland for contempt due to Biden&#8217;s convo with Hur"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Frepublicans-to-hold-garland-in-contempt-over-audio-of-biden-interview-with-hur%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2238614&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The\u2063 House Judiciary Committee aims to hold Attorney General \u2062Merrick Garland\u200b in contempt for withholding audio recordings\u2062 of President Biden&#8217;s \u2063interview. This\u200b escalation follows a probe revealing mishandling of classified documents by\u2064 Biden. The rare action of contempt could shed light \u2064on the president&#8217;s mental fitness, potentially\u200c impacting future \u2064proceedings. The House\u200d Judiciary Committee\u2062 plans to cite Attorney General Merrick Garland for contempt due \u200dto \u200chis withholding of \u200bPresident Biden&#8217;s interview recordings. This\u200c development stems from \u200ban investigation into \u200dBiden mishandling \u2062classified documents.\u2064 The contempt action might reveal insights into the\u200c president&#8217;s mental acuity, influencing forthcoming\u200b proceedings.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>EXCLUSIVE<\/strong> <strong>\u2014<\/strong> The House Judiciary Committee is aiming to hold Attorney General <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/merrick-garland\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Merrick Garland<\/a> in contempt of <a href=\"https:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/congress\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Congress\">Congress<\/a> for refusing to provide audio recordings of President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Joe Biden<\/a>\u2019s interview with the special counsel who investigated his handling of classified documents.<\/p>\n<p>The Republican-led committee is planning to hold a meeting to review a contempt report and hold a committee vote on the matter on May 16, according to two sources familiar with the plans.<\/p>\n<p>The committee\u2019s decision to move forward with contempt marks a dramatic escalation in its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/2986747\/doj-under-pressure-to-produce-audio-of-biden-interview-with-hur\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>monthslong fight<\/a> to obtain recordings of Biden\u2019s interview, which former special counsel Robert Hur conducted last October.<\/p>\n<p>Hur found after his investigation that Biden mishandled classified documents from his time as vice president and senator and that Biden disclosed classified information to his ghostwriter in 2017. However, based on Hur\u2019s interview with Biden, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/experts-say-psaki-msnbc-deal-raises-serious-ethical-concerns\/\" title=\"Experts Say Psaki MSNBC Deal Raises Serious Ethical Concerns\">special counsel found<\/a> that the president could give a jury reasonable doubt that he acted willfully because he came off as a \u201csympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.\u201d The president\u2019s mental acuity was one reason Hur said he declined to prosecute Biden.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Justice provided Congress with a redacted transcript of Hur\u2019s interview, and the transcript confirmed the president suffered memory lapses at times, while at other times, he was sharp and displayed an ability to recall information without issue.<\/p>\n<p>Audio recordings of the interview could shed additional light on the president\u2019s mental fitness or other aspects of the interview not captured through a written transcript.<\/p>\n<p>Contempt is a tool that Congress has used at times to enforce subpoenas, though holding a Cabinet official in contempt is rare.<\/p>\n<p>If the House votes to hold Garland in contempt, it would mark the fourth time in U.S. history that a Cabinet member has received such a condemnation. The House voted to hold two former attorneys general, Eric Holder and Bill Barr, in contempt in 2012 and 2019, respectively. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was held in contempt alongside Barr.<\/p>\n<p>When the House approves contempt, a criminal referral is made to the U.S. attorney\u2019s office in Washington, D.C., which then must weigh whether to move forward with prosecution. As was the case with Holder and Barr, who were not prosecuted by their own departments, it is unlikely that U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves would pursue Garland.<\/p>\n<p>The DOJ has been fending off numerous requests for the audio recordings, not just from Congress but also the conservative groups Judicial Watch and the Heritage Foundation, as well as from CNN. All three have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/2986747\/doj-under-pressure-to-produce-audio-of-biden-interview-with-hur\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>filed<\/a> legal complaints against the DOJ to enforce Freedom of Information Act requests for the audio, and the DOJ is planning to fight the groups in a joint lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>After the House Judiciary and Oversight committees warned that contempt would be the House\u2019s next step, a DOJ spokesman disputed the legitimacy of the move and warned that releasing audio would have a chilling effect on witnesses coming forward to law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have \u2026 repeatedly urged the Committees to avoid unnecessary conflict and to respect the public interest in the Department\u2019s ability to conduct effective investigations by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doj-under-pressure-to-produce-audio-of-biden-interview-with-hur\/\" title=\"Department of Justice urged to release recording of Biden's discussion with Hur\">protecting sensitive law enforcement files<\/a>,\u201d Carlos Uriarte, an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-antrim-co-forensic-report-bombshell-reveals-dominion-machines-were-set-at-68-05-error-ratemeaning-68-05-of-ballots-could-be-sent-out-for-mass-adjudication-giving-individuals-or-ma\/\" title=\"BREAKING: Antrim Co. Forensic Report BOMBSHELL Reveals Dominion Machines Were Set At 68.05% Error Rate\u2026Meaning 68.05% Of Ballots Could Be Sent Out For Mass Adjudication, Giving Individuals Or Machines Ability To Change 68.05% Of Votes\">assistant attorney general<\/a>, wrote on April 25.<\/p>\n<p>The DOJ declined to comment on the Judiciary Committee\u2019s decision to move forward with contempt.<\/p>\n<p>Separately, the committee on Monday threatened Mark Zwonitzer, the ghostwriter of Biden\u2019s memoir <em>Promise Me, Dad<\/em>, with contempt if Zwonitzer did not comply by May 20 with a subpoena for all records related to his work on the book, according to a letter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/729889974\/Jordan-to-Zwonitzer-Attorney?secret_password=1kexRjArtZXxX5t27veN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>obtained<\/a> by the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) wrote in the letter to Zwonitzer\u2019s attorney Louis Freeman that Freeman had provided no materials the committee requested and that objections Freeman has raised with Jordan\u2019s subpoena are \u201cunfounded.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Freeman did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In an exclusive revelation, the House Judiciary Committee intends to cite Attorney General Merrick Garland for contempt for withholding audio recordings of President Joe Biden&#8217;s interview with the special counsel probing his handling of classified documents. The GOP-driven committee will convene to deliberate on a contempt report and take action<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":2238615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP23263727602979.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2238614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP23263727602979.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2238614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2238614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2238614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2238615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2238614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2238614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2238614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}