The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution Wednesday to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena to release an audio tape of President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur.
The resolution passed along party lines 216-207, according to The Associated Press (AP).
Republican Ohio Rep. David Joyce was the lone GOP no vote, NBC News reported. Eight members of Congress abstained from voting, according to the National Review.
The House Judiciary Committee recommended that the House of Representatives hold Garland in contempt in May after he refused to comply with a Judiciary subpoena to produce the audio recordings of Biden’s interview with Hur in his classified documents case. (RELATED: ‘No, No’: Chip Roy Chews Out Merrick Garland Over Illegal Immigrants Allegedly Murdering Americans)
Biden, upon recommendation from Garland, invoked executive privilege to block the release of the tapes in May.
Hur elected not to levy criminal charges against Biden in the case but the transcripts of their conversation showed “President Biden willfully and unlawfully retained classified materials while he was a private citizen,” Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan wrote in May.
“He is refusing to comply with a lawful subpoena,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a Wednesday press conference. “We can’t allow the Department of Justice, an executive branch agency, to hide information from Congress.”
“We have a right to know if Robert Hur’s recommendation against prosecuting President Biden was warranted and the best evidence, as chairman Jordan said, was the audio recordings because they provide critical insight that the transcript itself cannot provide. We have to know if the transcript is accurate,” Johnson said.
“The Attorney General doesn’t get to decide whether he hides the tape,” the Speaker concluded.
This week, Attorney General Merrick Garland will be held in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a lawful subpoena.
We cannot allow the Department of Justice to hide information from Congress. pic.twitter.com/ccvk05tcMj
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) June 12, 2024
The contempt charge will be referred to the Department of Justice, which Garland heads, for prosecution, though it is unlikely the federal agency will choose to prosecute their department head, according to The AP.
The House vote makes Garland the third Attorney General in U.S. history to earn a contempt charge from Congress. In 2012 the House held Barack Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt and in 2019 the House voted to hold President Trump’s Attorney General, William Barr, in contempt for defying subpoenas related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s RussiaGate investigations. In both cases, the DOJ elected not to bring charges.