{"id":2266279,"date":"2024-06-12T17:38:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-12T21:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-gop-votes-to-hold-merrick-garland-in-contempt-of-congress\/"},"modified":"2024-06-12T17:41:34","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T21:41:34","slug":"house-gop-votes-to-hold-merrick-garland-in-contempt-of-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-gop-votes-to-hold-merrick-garland-in-contempt-of-congress\/","title":{"rendered":"House GOP Votes to Charge Merrick Garland with Contempt of Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/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%2Fhouse-gop-votes-to-hold-merrick-garland-in-contempt-of-congress%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=2266279&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 \u200dsummary of the provided text explains that Republicans voted 216-207 to\u200b hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt \u200cof\u2063 Congress. This decision was\u200b based on Garland&#8217;s refusal to <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\">release audio recordings<\/a> of President Joe Biden&#8217;s interview with special \u2063counsel Robert Hur. Despite\u200c Republican majority \u200bsupport, Representative David Joyce, \u2062R-Ohio, joined \u2063Democrats in opposing\u200b this action. Speaker Mike Johnson emphasized that this vote was crucial for maintaining the integrity of congressional oversight responsibilities.<\/p>\n<p>The \u2062article describes Johnson&#8217;s assertion that the oversight of Special Counsel Hur&#8217;s decision not to prosecute President \u2064Biden for \u200ballegedly violating the law by improperly handling top-secret documents was\u200d necessary.\u2063 According to a report shared by the Department of\u200b Justice, Hur described Biden as an \u2062\u201celderly\u2062 man with a poor memory,\u201d which factored into the decision not to\u200c prosecute him. Hur\u200d also noted difficulties in proving willfulness in \u2062court because of Biden\u2019s\u200b age and\u2063 perceived mental state.<\/p>\n<p>The controversy continued with Republicans questioning\u200c the completeness and accuracy of\u2062 the transcript of Biden&#8217;s \u2062interview\u200b versus the actual\u2063 audio, suggesting potential manipulation or \u2064editing. \u200bThere were also claims that the White House had requested changes to the \u2063<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/primary-source-for-steele-dossier-is-accused-of-fabricating-information\/\" title=\"Primary Source for Steele Dossier Is Accused of Fabricating Information\">special counsel&#8217;<\/a>s report. Garland defended his \u200ddecision not\u2063 to release the audio by citing potential\u200d risks of manipulation using\u2062 AI technology and believed the \u200btranscripts provided were adequate.  <\/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<div>\n<div>\n<figure>                         <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Republicans voted 216-207 on Wednesday to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over the audio of President Joe Biden\u2019s interview with special counsel Robert Hur.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. David Joyce, R-Ohio, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/house-vote-merrick-garland-contempt-biden-audio-recordings\/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab8a&#038;linkId=466894154\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">voted<\/a> with Democrats not to hold Garland in contempt.<\/p>\n<p>Speaker Mike Johnson <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SpeakerJohnson\/status\/1800994281848455657\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">called<\/a> the vote a \u201csignificant step in maintaining the integrity of our oversight processes and responsibilities by holding Attorney General Garland in contempt of Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCongress has a responsibility to conduct oversight of the Special Counsel\u2019s work and specifically Special Counsel Hur\u2019s determination not to prosecute President Biden for the clear violation of the law,\u201d Johnson\u2019s statement continued. <\/p>\n<p>The Department of Justice (DOJ) shared a transcript of the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/02\/08\/prosecutors-decline-to-charge-elderly-biden-over-poor-memory\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">interview<\/a> in which Hur described Biden as an \u201celderly man with a poor memory\u201d and therefore would not levy charges against the president for taking top-secret documents to his Delaware home. Hur\u2019s team wrote in their report that \u201cbased on our direct interactions with and observations of [Biden], he is someone for whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him \u2014 by then a former president well into his eighties \u2014 of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness,\u201d the report continued.<\/p>\n[[<strong>READ NEXT: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/02\/09\/either-biden-is-an-elderly-man-with-a-poor-memory-or-he-needs-to-be-charged-pick-one\/\">Either Biden Is An \u2018Elderly Man With A Poor Memory,\u2019 Or He Needs To Be Charged. Pick One<\/a>]\n<p>Hur further reported that Biden\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/12\/hur-transcripts-show-another-lapse-in-bidens-memory-at-white-house-press-conference\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">memory<\/a> \u201cappeared to have significant limitations,\u201d noting Biden could not remember the start and end date of his terms as vice president.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans issued subpoenas for a copy of the tapes shortly after Hur\u2019s report came out, with some Republicans like Majority Whip Tom Emmer suggesting the transcript may have been edited and not actually match the audio. Hur <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/12\/hur-biden-white-house-pressured-me-to-change-my-report-findings\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">testified<\/a> before the House Judiciary Committee in March that the White House had asked him to make \u201ccertain edits\u201d to the report.<\/p>\n<p>Garland cited concerns that someone could <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2024\/06\/01\/doj-ai-biden-hur-00161151\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">manipulate<\/a> the audio using AI as a reason for not releasing the audio and argued the transcript was sufficient, but as my colleague <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/06\/04\/merrick-garland-shouldnt-be-praised-he-should-be-impeached\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">David Harsanyi<\/a> writes, \u201cthe real problem here isn\u2019t the deep fake; it\u2019s the unedited tape.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWithholding the audio is obviously politically motivated,\u201d Harsanyi explains. <\/p>\n<p>But if you\u2019re hoping for any legitimate accountability with Wednesday\u2019s vote, don\u2019t hold your breath. The DOJ gets to choose whether it will take any action against an individual whom Congress has held in contempt. Biden\u2019s DOJ seems ready to cover for Garland. An internal memo from the DOJ\u2019s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) argued that since Biden claimed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cnn-complains-about-fox-news-chyrons-regarding-biden-ignoring-networks-own-chyrons-during-trump\/\" title=\"CNN Complains About Fox News Chyrons Regarding Biden, Ignoring Network\u2019s Own Chyrons During Trump\">executive privilege<\/a> over the tapes, Garland had no responsibility to turn them over to Congress, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/house\/4718115-garland-contempt-doj-memo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Hill<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The OLC argues that there is no precedent for an administration official being prosecuted for not complying with a congressional subpoena so long as the president has exercised executive privilege.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor nearly seven decades and across presidential administrations of both parties, the Executive Branch has taken the position that the criminal contempt of Congress statute \u2026 does not apply to Executive Branch officials who do not comply with a congressional subpoena based on a presidential assertion of executive privilege,\u201d the memo states, according to The Hill. <\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-image data-amount=\"5\">\n<h2>Popular<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Wednesday, Republicans, in a 216-207 vote, decided to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for not releasing President Joe Biden&#8217;s interview audio with special counsel Robert Hur. Ohio Republican David Joyce sided with Democrats. Speaker Mike Johnson described the vote as a &#8220;significant step.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2266280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-1.46.15-PM-e1718214527908-1024x576.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2266279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-1.46.15-PM-e1718214527908-1024x576.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2266279","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\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2266279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2266279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2266280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2266279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2266279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2266279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}