Eduardo Muñoz/Pool/Getty Images/File
U.S. Merrick Garland delivers opening remarks as he meets with U.S. Attorney Damien Williams and other federal, state, and local law enforcement leaders at the Southern District of New York office in New York City, November 27, 2023. Attorney General.
CNN
—
President Joe Biden met with Special Counsel Robert Hur regarding classified documents on Thursday morning, hours before House Republicans took the first step in charging Attorney General Merrick Garland with contempt of Congress for refusing to extradite him. He claimed administrative privilege over the records. Audio recording.
The House Oversight Committee and the Judiciary Committee will each add their own reports recommending a contempt of Congress motion against Garland for failing to comply with a parliamentary subpoena. If it passes out of committee, the resolution would then go to the House floor for a vote by the full chamber. It is not clear when that vote will take place.
Ahead of the hike, Biden claimed executive privilege over the recordings, according to a letter from the Justice Department to House Republicans.
“I am writing to inform you that the President has asserted executive privilege over the requested audio recordings and is making a protective claim of privilege over the remaining materials in response to the subpoena, which have not yet been produced. ,” said the assistant attorney general in the Legislative Division. Secretary General Carlos Uriarte said in a letter Thursday.
Shortly after Mr. Xu closed his investigation into Mr. Biden’s handling of classified documents in February, Republicans asked the Justice Department to release audio recordings of the special counsel’s interviews with Mr. Biden and his ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer. Numerous documents and information were subpoenaed.
Although Mr. Xu’s investigation did not bring charges against the president, Republicans took advantage of Mr. Hun’s description of Mr. Biden in his final report as a “well-intentioned elderly man with a poor memory.”
CNN has filed a lawsuit seeking access to recordings of interviews with Biden by federal agents in the now-closed investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents.
House Republicans have argued through subpoenas to the Justice Department that the audio recordings are critical to Biden’s impeachment inquiry, but the investigation remains stalled as the prospects of the probe leading to impeachment become increasingly slim. Without a narrow majority vote and no evidence of impeachable crimes, Republicans are now struggling with how to conclude the investigation and are considering ways to target other members of the Biden administration. I’m looking for something.
The department has made most of the subpoenaed materials available to House Republicans, including the special counsel’s interview transcripts with Biden and his ghostwriter, but further strengthens its decision not to release audio files of the interviews. The Republican Party says the following: No legitimate legislative purpose has been established for requiring these recordings.
Republicans said in their contempt report that the Justice Department is unable to determine what information would help the investigation, and that the nuances of language in the audio recordings are unique to the subject matter not reflected in the recordings. claimed to provide insight.
“The Constitution does not allow the executive branch to instruct Congress on how to conduct or monitor impeachment investigations,” the report states.
In a recent letter to the Republican-led committees, Justice Department Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte told the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees that the Justice Department has provided transcripts and that Republicans have not submitted any audio recordings. , and said it would address Republican claims about the president. It’s part of the impeachment inquiry.
“The more information we receive, the less satisfied we are, the less reason we have to justify our contempt, and the more we seem to rush toward it,” Uriarte wrote.
The Department of Justice also noted the clear privacy concerns associated with audio recordings of interviews compared to written records and how the release of such audio files could impede the cooperation of witnesses in future criminal investigations. I have outlined what there is.
He expressed concern that Republicans may want these audio files for political purposes, saying, “The committee’s failure to identify a need for these audio files based on legislative or impeachment purposes… “This raises concerns that the audio files may be useful for other purposes,” it added.
Meanwhile, the Republican Party said in its report that while interview transcripts reflect what was said, they do not “reflect important linguistic context, such as tone and tone, or nonverbal context, such as pause and pace of speech. ” he claims.
Republicans argue that such pauses and intonations “may indicate a witness’s ability to recall events or whether the person is intentionally giving evasive or unresponsive testimony to investigators.” ” he claims.
Republicans point to a recent example of a discrepancy between the president’s transcript and audio recording, including a speech last month in which Biden read teleprompter cues out loud during a speech that were not reflected in the recording of the event. However, he said that it was not reflected in his speech. First transcript of his remarks.
The House Oversight Committee will set the start time for Thursday’s increase to allow Republican members to attend former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York City, two sources familiar with the plan told CNN. has been postponed.
Asked for comment on the reason for the schedule change, a spokesperson for the oversight board told CNN: “Due to conflicts with members’ schedules, markup will begin at a different time to accommodate members’ schedules. It became,” he said.
