Topline
The Justice Department said Friday it will not pursue prosecution against Attorney General Merrick Garland, according to multiple outlets, after he was held in contempt of Congress by House Republicans for not turning over subpoenaed audio tapes of President Joe Biden.
Garland was held in contempt by the House on Wednesday. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Key Facts
The Justice Department found Garland’s refusal to submit the audio tapes “did not constitute a crime,” according to the Associated Press, ending the case against the attorney general.
The Biden administration asserted executive privilege over the interview tapes last month on the final day Garland had to comply with House Republicans’ subpoena for the tapes of Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur, which concerned the president’s management of classified documents.
The Justice Department said in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., its decision was based on a “longstanding” position to not prosecute officials for contempt of congress when they don’t comply with subpoenas because of executive privilege claims.
Garland has told reporters Congress had no “legitimate” reason to request the tapes and said releasing the tapes could hinder cooperation needed for future investigations of the White House, NPR reported.
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Key Background
The House voted 216-207 on Wednesday to hold Garland in contempt of Congress, with all but one Republican voting for the resolution. The contempt vote was largely symbolic: It’s up to the DOJ to decide whether to bring contempt of Congress charges, and the department usually declines to prosecute those cases, especially against members of the sitting administration. Still, the DOJ has faced Republican scrutiny amid a special counsel’s prosecution of former Donald Trump for attempting to overturn the 2020 election and Hur’s investigation into Biden. Details of Hur’s interviews with Biden were revealed in a report from the special counsel published in February. Hur found the president willfully retained classified documents but declined to bring charges against him, citing concerns about the ability to convince a jury of misconduct. “[It]
would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him – by then a former president well into his eighties – of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness,” Hur said in the report.Further Reading
House Holds Merrick Garland In Contempt Over Biden Tapes (Forbes)
