{"id":2266264,"date":"2024-06-12T17:28:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-12T21:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/merrick-garland-faces-criminal-referral-after-contempt-resolution-passes-house\/"},"modified":"2024-06-12T17:29:31","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T21:29:31","slug":"merrick-garland-faces-criminal-referral-after-contempt-resolution-passes-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/merrick-garland-faces-criminal-referral-after-contempt-resolution-passes-house\/","title":{"rendered":"House passes contempt resolution, Merrick Garland faces criminal referral"},"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\">18<\/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%2Fmerrick-garland-faces-criminal-referral-after-contempt-resolution-passes-house%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=2266264&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 U. S. House of Representatives held Attorney General Merrick Garland\u2062 in contempt of Congress\u200c for not providing an audio recording of President Joe Biden&#8217;s interview with special counsel Robert Hur, concerning <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/roger-stone-announces-he-will-sue-those-who-arrested-him-and-put-him-in-front-of-a-kangaroo-court\/\" title=\"Roger Stone Announces He Will Sue Those Who Arrested Him and Put Him In Front of a Kangaroo Court\">classified documents<\/a>.\u200d The majority \u200cof Republicans \u2063voted\u2062 for \u200cthe contempt \u2064resolution, emphasizing the need for the \u2064recording to verify\u2062 Biden\u2019s mental acuity and to ensure that the \u2062transcript had not been altered. Only \u2063Representative \u200dDave Joyce (R-OH) \u2062voted against it. Following the vote, \u200da \u200dcriminal referral was sent to\u2062 the U.S. \u200dattorney&#8217;s office in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats opposed the resolution, arguing\u2062 that it was politically motivated \u200dand the \u200brelease \u2063of the audio\u200b could hinder the willingness of witnesses\u2064 to cooperate \u200cwith\u200c law \u2063enforcement. They pointed out that the Department\u2063 of Justice had already complied \u2064by providing\u2062 a\u2064 verbatim transcript of the interview.\u2062 <\/p>\n<p>The debate \u200dover\u200d the resolution also highlighted \u200daccusations \u200bof hypocrisy and double\u200c standards, citing other instances like Representative \u2064Jim Jordan\u2019s (R-OH) refusal to comply with a subpoena related to the January 6 Capitol riots.  <\/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>The <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/house-of-representatives\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>House<\/a> held Attorney General <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/merrick-garland\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Merrick Garland <\/a>in contempt of Congress on Wednesday for his refusal to turn over the audio recording of President <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Joe Biden<\/a>\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-insists-biden-can-juggle-israel-and-classified-documents-interview\/\" title=\"White House affirms Biden's ability to handle Israel and classified documents interview simultaneously.\">classified documents interview<\/a> with special counsel <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/robert-k-hur\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Robert Hur<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>All Republicans but one voted for the resolution that holds Garland in contempt for refusing to comply with a subpoena. House GOP leaders have been persistent in their requests for the audio recording, while Garland and House Democrats have claimed the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3006451\/judiciary-committee-passes-merrick-garland-contempt-resolution\/\"> recording is unnecessary<\/a> since the transcript is already public.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) was the sole \u201cno\u201d vote on the resolution.<\/p>\n<p>After passing the full House, a criminal referral will now be made to the U.S. attorney\u2019s office in Washington, D.C., which must then weigh whether to move forward with prosecution. The committee\u2019s contempt resolution would likely not result in any criminal proceedings for Garland, as he heads the Justice Department. <\/p>\n<p>Spokespeople for the DOJ and Garland himself have disputed the legitimacy of the committee\u2019s efforts and warned that releasing audio would have a chilling effect on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/burchett-more-witnesses-have-come-forward-since-uap-hearing-select-committee-with-subpoena-authority-requested\/\" title=\"Burchett: Additional witnesses step forward post-UAP hearing; calls for 'select committee' with subpoena power.\">witnesses coming forward<\/a> to law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>Whether the contempt resolution would even come to the floor on Wednesday was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3037255\/house-republicans-tee-up-vote-garland-contempt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"up in the air\">up in the air<\/a>, as House Republican leadership worked to whip votes on the legislation. However, Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) confirmed ahead of the vote on Wednesday that it would come to the floor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s time for Merrick Garland to stop stonewalling and release the Biden tapes,\u201d Stefanik said at the GOP\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/stunning-hypocrisy-demon-nancy-pelosi-cheers-national-guard-troops-in-dc-today-after-she-attacked-trump-for-sending-in-national-guard-during-dc-blm-riots\/\" title=\"STUNNING HYPOCRISY: Demon Nancy Pelosi Cheers National Guard Troops in DC Today After She Attacked Trump For Sending in National Guard During DC BLM Riots\">weekly press conference<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The measure put vulnerable Republicans in Biden-won districts at a crossroads as to how they would vote on the resolution. With only a two-seat majority, the margins for passing the resolution were slim.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-NY), one of those vulnerable Republicans this election year, said that \u201cwhether one agrees with it or not,\u201d Congress has the \u201cresponsibility\u201d to demand accountability.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s how it works,\u201d Molinaro told reporters. \u201cThey\u2019re just trying to run out the clock so there can be no transparency.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>All Democrats voted against the resolution. Several have blasted Republicans for politicizing the issue and wanting the audio recording for \u201cDonald Trump\u2019s campaign commercials\u201d or use Biden\u2019s stutter to \u201csmear\u201d him.<\/p>\n<p>Hur\u2019s interview with Biden was used as rationale not to seek charges against the president since he would \u201clikely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.\u201d Republicans have argued the recording itself is needed to assess <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/3029826\/republicans-vindicated-reports-biden-fitness\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Biden's mental acuity\">Biden\u2019s mental acuity<\/a> and to determine if the transcript had been altered in any way.<\/p>\n<p>Rules Committee ranking member Jim McGovern (D-MA) called the contempt resolution \u201cgarbage,\u201d arguing it is a smokescreen to distract from similar issues on the other side of the aisle, such as Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan\u2019s (R-OH) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2039570\/jim-jordan-declines-unprecedented-and-inappropriate-jan-6-committee-request-for-cooperation\/\">refusal to comply<\/a> with a subpoena related to the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRepublicans seem to be OK when, you know, if Democrats are held to account by the legal system, but if a Republican is held to account, they cry, you know, \u2018Sham, rigged system, undue influence by, you know, the administration,\u2019\u201d McGovern said to the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. \u201cI mean the hypocrisy is, is stunning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD) called the resolution \u201cridiculous,\u201d arguing that the Justice Department has already complied with the subpoena by giving a transcript that is \u201cverbatim to the tape.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s kind of ridiculous, too, that you got the chairman of the committee who never complied with the January 6 subpoena to this day, and they\u2019re giving contempt charges now,\u201d Ivey said to the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, referring to Jordan. \u201cSo, I think it\u2019s sort of an abuse of the congressional contempt power and I\u2019m sorry to see it happen on this one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jordan, who was subpoenaed but refused to appear before the House Select Committee on Jan. 6 about his conversations with former President Donald Trump, at the time called his subpoena \u201cunprecedented and inappropriate,\u201d nor \u201cfair-minded and objective.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Shortly before the Judiciary Committee voted to bring the contempt resolution to the floor back in May, the White House exerted executive privilege over the audio tape \u2014 a move that made Republicans double down on their assertions that the recording is critical to their inquiry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe think the privilege has already been waived,\u201d Jordan said to reporters on Wednesday. \u201cWe think when they gave us the transcript, they\u2019ve waived the privilege. Understand that there have already been times where the transcript that we\u2019ve received from the White House doesn\u2019t match up with what was actually said by the president of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) also pushed back against claims that obtaining the recording is unnecessary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTranscripts do not and cannot capture things like tone, inflection, pace, and pauses that fully convey a person\u2019s message,\u201d Emmer argued. \u201cThe audio recordings are necessary to adequately evaluate Special Counsel Hur\u2019s assessment about President Biden\u2019s memory and to determine whether the DOJ is engaging in a two-tiered application of justice by refusing to indict Joe Biden.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf the interview audio matches the transcript, why not release it? Why not comply with our subpoenas?\u201d Emmer added.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) dismissed Republicans\u2019 reasoning on why they should receive the tape ahead of the vote, arguing that it is just \u201cmore of the same.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey couldn\u2019t get Biden on impeachment because there\u2019s nothing there,\u201d Balint told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. \u201cThey couldn\u2019t score victory in the Hur hearing. This is just one more attempt at eroding confidence in our government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s enraging because every single time they do these things, it\u2019s picking away at any confidence that the American people have in our government. And that, it sickens me, honestly,\u201d Balint added.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The House voted to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for not providing an audio recording of President Biden\u2019s interview about classified documents with special counsel Robert Hur. All Republicans, except one, supported the resolution after Garland defied a subpoena<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2930,"featured_media":2266265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/AP24156602807379.jpg.optimal.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2266264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/AP24156602807379.jpg.optimal.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2266264","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\/2930"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2266264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2266264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2266265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2266264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2266264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2266264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}