(RepublicanPress.org) – On February 5, Special Counsel Robert Hur issued his final report in his criminal probe of Joe Biden’s alleged willful retention of classified documents. He declined to file charges against the president, stating he would likely come across as an old man with a bad memory in front of a jury. He also accused Biden of exhibiting memory lapses during his interview with DOJ officials. The Justice Department subsequently refused to turn over the audio recording. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) recently threatened to take legal action to get that tape.
On June 26, Johnson spoke with reporters about Attorney General Merrick Garland’s refusal to honor a February 27 subpoena for Hur’s records, including all video, notes, transcripts, and audio files. Johnson said the House would file a lawsuit against the Justice Department to enforce the House Judiciary and House Oversight and Accountability committees’ lawful subpoena.
“We will go to the district court here in [Washington] DC,” Johnson proclaimed. After noting that was the “appropriate venue” to seek legal redress. “We will fight vigorously to get it,” the speaker concluded.
Congressional Republicans already have the transcripts of the Biden interview. However, in light of Hur’s mention of memory lapses, the GOP lawmakers say they want to review the audio recording to determine the context surrounding the special counsel’s remarks.
Republican committee members spent several months trying to obtain those recordings. Biden asserted executive privilege over those files on May 16. Nevertheless, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comey (R-KY) introduced a resolution to hold Garland in contempt of Congress for his failure to fully honor the subpoena. The House adopted the measure later that day and referred the matter to the Justice Department for criminal proceedings.
The DOJ declined to prosecute Garland, noting that his actions “did not constitute a crime.” Officials based the finding on the long-standing Justice Department policy not to criminally charge executive branch officials for refusing to provide information to Congress once executive privilege had been asserted.
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