(NewsInsights.org) – The House Judiciary and Oversight Committees have unsuccessfully tried for months to obtain the interview recordings made by Special Counsel Robert Hur during his investigation of President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents from the Justice Department (DOJ). On May 16, Jordan plans to hold a meeting and vote to review whether to find Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for his refusal to release the tapes. An affirmative vote would see the GOP-led committee refer the charge to a House vote.
If the House finds Garland in contempt, it will refer charges to the US District Attorney for DC, Matthew Graves. He would decide whether to pursue charges against Garland. Congress held two previous attorneys general in contempt: Eric Holder and Bill Barr. The DOJ didn’t pursue charges against either.
The DOJ has remained steadfast in its refusal to relinquish the tapes. Instead, the department provided transcripts of the recordings to Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and James Comer (R-KY), the chairs of the Judicial and Oversight committees, respectively.
In April, Carlos Uriarte, Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs, wrote to the chairmen stating that their demands for the recordings, despite already having the transcripts, perhaps indicated their “Committees’ interest may not be in receiving information in service of legitimate oversight or investigatory functions.” Instead, Uriarte suggested the chairmen hoped to “serve political purposes” with the tapes in which “law enforcement files” shouldn’t play any part.
Additionally, Uriarte argued that releasing the recordings could discourage future cooperation with the DOJ and special counsels. He claimed that the DOJ could find future investigations significantly more problematic if high-profile interview subjects believed Congress could publicly release taped interview sessions.
Jordan and Comer responded with the assertion that recordings offer information “materially different from the transcripts” because they “capture vocal tone, pace, inflections, verbal nuance, and other idiosyncrasies.” In part, the chairmen are seeking justification for Hur’s decision not to prosecute Biden. Hur described the president as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” — something they feel the transcript doesn’t fully convey.
The Congressmen aren’t the only ones seeking the audio tapes, either. CNN, The Heritage Foundation, and Judicial Watch have all filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits seeking the recordings.
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