House Fails To Hold Garland in Contempt

(USNewsBreak.com) – House committees have sought the audio files of President Joe Biden’s interviews with special counsel Robert Hur for months. Biden has claimed executive privilege over the tapes, and the Department of Justice, headed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, has refused to turn them over. That act put a figurative target on Garland’s back. The House successfully voted to hold him in contempt of Congress in June. Yet the DOJ refused to take up the referral, citing a “longstanding position and uniform practice” of not prosecuting officials who refuse to comply with subpoenas involving executive privilege. The Lower Chamber’s latest measure just failed, too.

On Wednesday, July 10, Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (FL) forced the floor to vote on an “inherent contempt” measure that would’ve seen Garland fined $10,000 for each day he refused to comply with the subpoena. It failed 204-210, with four Republicans siding with Democrats.

House Rejects Measure to Fine AG Garland Over Hur–Biden Tapes

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna had sought to fine the attorney general $10,000 for every day he failed to comply with a subpoena for the Hur–Biden tapes.https://t.co/E7Ch4XyTQT

— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) July 11, 2024

It’s the latest in a series of failures for the GOP, which is seeking the audio files to verify the accuracy of the transcript provided and confirm that Hur made the right decision in declining to file charges against Biden for his possession of classified documents. The fact that the vote didn’t pass also seemed to have caught the House members off-guard, per The Associated Press, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) saying he expected the measure to pass.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) said Republicans only want the audio files so they can use them to turn the document “into an RNC attack ad.” The White House and other Democrats have echoed similar sentiments.

That’s not stopping Republicans in the Lower Chamber from pursuing legal action, however. On Monday, July 1, they filed a lawsuit against Garland in which they sought access to the files. They want the court to hand over those along with Hur’s interview with Mark Zwonitzer, Biden’s ghostwriter who wrote two memoirs for him.