(ConservativeInsider.org) – Following the Biden administration’s assertion of executive privilege to block the release of the audio recordings of the president’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur over whether Biden mishandled classified documents, the House Judiciary Committee announced plans to file a lawsuit in order to obtain the recordings on Wednesday, June 26.
The lawsuit is yet another step by Republicans to obtain the recordings after Attorney General Merrick Garland advised President Biden to exert executive privilege to withhold the tapes from the public. After doing so, the House issued a subpoena for the tapes and then voted to hold Garland in contempt for his refusal to cooperate. Lawmakers were hoping the Department of Justice would agree to bring charges against Garland, but they declined to do so earlier in June.
The House Speaker, Mike Johnson, called the DOJ’s decision to not prosecute Garland as a “sadly predictable” move by the Biden administration, pointing out that Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro were “aggressively prosecuted” for similar things.
A Republican Representative from Florida, Anna Paulina Luna, has pushed to force a vote for a resolution that would allow them to detain Garland under a procedure known as “inherent contempt.” The procedure has not been used in nearly a century, making it unclear how it would work in a modern-day setting. Johnson declined to express support for the plan, saying that no plans have been settled yet and they are weighing several options. Lunda, however, believes it is a necessary move to show how Congress deals with those who refuse to cooperate with their orders.
The report by Hur indicated that Biden “willfully retained” classified materials when he left the White House after his term as Vice President, but went on to describe Biden as an “elderly man with a poor memory.” Hur released the transcript of his interview with Biden, but many believe the actual audio recordings will give the public more insight to the president’s mental acuity, as well as the reasoning for Hur’s decision to not press charges against Biden.
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