DOJ Declines to Prosecute Contempt Referral of AG Garland, withholding Audio Recordings was not a crime

The Justice Department announced on Friday that it would not take action on the House’s contempt referral of Attorney General Merrick Garland. The decision stems from the department’s longstanding policy of not prosecuting executive branch officials who withhold information from Congress on grounds of executive privilege.

In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, the DOJ emphasized this position, stating that Attorney General Garland’s responses to the subpoenas did not constitute a crime. Consequently, the department will not bring the congressional contempt citation before a grand jury or pursue any prosecution against Garland.

The announcement followed a mostly party-line vote in the House, where Garland was held in contempt for not turning over audio recordings of President Joe Biden’s interview conducted by special counsel Robert Hur during an investigation into classified documents.

Republican lawmakers argued that access to the tapes would enhance transparency and oversight regarding the investigation into a sitting US president. Every Republican in the House, except Rep. Dave Joyce of Ohio, voted in favor of holding Garland in contempt.

The Justice Department has defended its decision to withhold the audio recordings, stating it was necessary to protect this and future investigations. However, the department did release transcripts of Biden’s interviews. Hur, in his description of the interviews, characterized Biden as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

President Biden dismissed Hur’s report and the questions about his memory, asserting that the special counsel’s task was to decide on the potential for charges, which Hur ultimately did not pursue. Biden criticized any extraneous commentary as irrelevant to the report’s purpose.

CNN has sued for access to the audio recordings, arguing that transcripts are insufficient substitutes and that public access to the recordings is essential for forming independent conclusions about Hur’s characterization of Biden.

In response to the House vote, Garland expressed deep disappointment, accusing Republicans of weaponizing congressional authority for partisan purposes.

SOURCES: ASSOCIATED PRESS, CNN