House of Representatives cites Merrick Garland for contempt of Congress

The Republican-led House of Representatives passed a resolution on Wednesday to prosecute Attorney General Merrick Garland for defying a document production order linked to President Joe Biden.

The resolution passed 216-207, with only one Republican opposing it, Ohio Rep. Dave Joyce.

Republicans criticize the attorney general for failing to turn over to two House committees audio recordings of the president’s interviews with special prosecutor Robert Hur, who investigated Mr. Biden’s handling of confidential documents while the latter was vice president. -president.

The Department of Justice, however, transmitted the transcript of the two interviews, which took place on October 8 and 9.

The Justice Department had indicated it would not comply with the document production order, citing Joe Biden’s decision to invoke executive privilege to block the release of the recording.

The House resolution will be forwarded to the Justice Department, which Mr. Garland heads.

Today’s vote ignores the constitutional separation of powers, the need for the Justice Department to protect its investigations, and the substantial amount of information we have provided to the committeessaid the attorney general in a press release.

It is deeply disappointing that this House of Representatives has turned a serious congressional authority into a partisan weapon.

In a statement, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, for his part welcomed the outcome of the vote.

Registration is required to check the accuracy of the interview transcript, he argued.

It is up to Congress – not the Executive Branch – to determine what materials it needs to conduct its own investigations, and there are consequences for refusing to comply with legitimate congressional document production orders.

During his appearance before the Judiciary Committee last week, Merrick Garland said he would not allow himself to be intimidate by the threat of prosecution. We will continue to do our work free from any political influence. And we will not back down from defending our democracyhe told the elected officials.

Pleading that his department had handed over to the two committees which requested them all transcriptions related to the Joe Biden interview, he argued that releasing the recordings could dissuade potential witnesses from collaborating in future investigations.

Conservative groups as well as a media coalition made up of ABC, Washington PostCNN, Associated Press, Reuters, CBS News, NBC, Wall Street Journalof NBC and Reuters, sued to obtain recordings of the interviews, invoking the freedom of information law.

Precedents

Merrick Garland became the third attorney general in American history to be sanctioned by such a measure, after Democrat Eric Holder in 2012, then Republican Bill Barr in 2019.

However, the federal justice system has never initiated proceedings in the wake of previous resolutions – a scenario that is very likely to repeat itself.

In 2019, the Judiciary Committee also proposed sanctioning Mr. Barr’s refusal to hand over special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s full report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, but the vote did not materialize.

The White House had also invoked executive privilege.

The current chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan, a staunch ally of Donald Trump, has himself already defied a subpoena to appear before the House committee investigating the assault on the Capitol, then controlled by Democrats. He had denounced a witch hunt biased and endless investigations.

During Donald Trump’s mandate, in addition to Mr. Jordan and Mr. Barr, several other elected Republicans and even members of his administration also defied subpoenas and orders to produce documents from the House, notably in connection with the investigation into the assault on the Capitol by supporters of the former Republican president.

A recording with devastating potential

Even if special prosecutor Robert Hur did not recommend prosecution against Joe Biden, his report, published last February, gave ammunition to the Republicans.

He justified his decision, among other things, by the fact that, according to him, a jury would give the benefit of the doubt to a friendly, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.

Dissatisfied with his recommendation, the Republicans, however, tried to take advantage of his conclusions, describing the president, a few months before the presidential election, as a man senile.

The transcripts of both interviews indicate that President Biden was repeatedly hesitant about certain dates and timing of certain events, but they suggest that his oversights are less significant than the report suggests .

During his testimony before the House of Representatives, Robert Hur was criticized by both parties.

If the two House committees obtain the recording they are seeking, Republicans would be able to air excerpts, without context, in their campaign ads.

Joe Biden’s age and the acuity of his mental abilities are in the crosshairs of Donald Trump and the Republicans, who have released several videos depicting him as a fragile and lost old man.

An analysis of the Washington Post of videos posted online by the Republican camp in the wake of Joe Biden’s visit to France for the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings shows that the editing of images gives a particularly damaging, but often truncated, perception of reality.

According to polls, age is a factor that gives an advantage to Donald Trump, who will be 78 years old in two days, over his successor, who is 81 years old.

A poll carried out last month by ABC News/Ipsos shows that 55% of Americans find the Republican candidate too old compared to 81% in the case of his Democratic opponent.

According to the same poll, 42% of them believe that Donald Trump has the mental capacity to be president, a figure which drops to 23% when asked about Joe Biden.

Investigations and accusations

Merrick Garland is not the only member of the Biden administration in the sights of Republican representatives.

In February, they indicted Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, accusing him of provoking a crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. The Senate, with a Democratic majority, however closed the door to holding a trial, deeming the accusations unfounded.

In late 2023, the House also formally launched an impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden, prompted by his son Hunter’s controversial overseas affairs, but the investigation has yet to lead to charges.

With information from ABC News