WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Monday criticized Republican efforts to retain an attorney general Merrick Garland in contempt for his refusal to turn over unredacted material related to the special counsel’s investigation President Joe Biden’s work with classified documents.
In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, the Justice Department rejected a request by House Republicans that the agency turn over the full audio of special counsel Robert Hurr’s hour-long interviews with Biden and his ghostwriter. Republicans gave the Justice Department until Monday to release the audio.
Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte, head of the Justice Department’s congressional affairs division, said in the letter to Reps. James Comer and Jim Jordan that despite GOP claims to the contrary, the department complied with each of the four elements of the subpoena , which Republicans in the House of Representatives sent in February.
“The commissions’ response is difficult to explain in terms of lack of information or frustration with any informational or investigative imperative given the Department’s actual conduct,” Uriarte wrote. “That’s why we’re concerned that the committees are disappointed not because you didn’t get information, but because you did.”
He added: “We urge committees to avoid conflict rather than seek it.”
The department’s pushback and apparent reluctance to release the audio could set off a legal battle between the White House and GOP chairmen leading the impeachment effort on Capitol Hill, potentially setting up a scenario in which Biden would have to invoke executive privilege to stop playing the audio in Congress.
The maneuvering could also delay the release of any audio until after the November election.
Comer responded to the letter late Monday, saying the Biden administration “can’t determine what Congress needs and doesn’t need its oversight of the executive branch.” The Kentucky Republican vowed to continue to fight to obtain the documents requested for their investigation.
Comer added: “We will be responding to the Department of Justice shortly.”
The exchange is just the latest flashpoint between Republicans investigating Biden and the Justice Department, tasked with overseeing a myriad of politically charged federal investigations, including one against the president’s son, Hunter Biden.
Herr spent a year investigating the improper retention of classified documents by Biden, from his time as senator and as vice president. The result was a 345-page report that questioned Biden’s age and mental competency but recommended that no criminal charges be brought against the 81-year-old president, finding there was insufficient evidence to make the case stand up in court.
Last month, Hurr stood by the assessment made in his report in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, where he was grilled for more than four hours by Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
“What I wrote is what I believe the evidence shows and what I expect the jury to perceive and believe,” Hurr told lawmakers. “I have not sanitized my explanation. Nor have I neglected the President unfairly.
If GOP lawmakers follow through on their threat to hold Garland in contempt, it will require the support of a majority in the committee and then the support of the full House before a referral is sent to the Justice Department. It is unlikely that the department that Garland heads will pursue a referral for an investigation of the cabinet official.
The last time such an effort was successful was in 2012, when the Republican-controlled House voted to make then-Attorney General Eric Holder the first sitting cabinet member to be charged with contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over documents in the sting operation. arms proliferation known as Operation Fast and Furious. Republicans then cited the Justice Department’s failure to turn over without preconditions documents related to the risky operation. The Justice Department took no action to prosecute the attorney general.
