House Republicans voted to charge Attorney General Merrick Garland with contempt of Congress after he refused to turn over audio of President Biden’s special counsel’s interview with Robert Hur.
During the interview, Hur said Biden seemed “old” with a “bad memory” as he mixed up his son Beau’s date of death and had a series of other missteps.
The resolution passed by a vote of 216 to 207, with Republican Rep. Dave Joyce of Ohio being the only Republican to vote against the resolution.
Garland is the third attorney general found in contempt for defying a congressional subpoena in history, after Bill Barr under President Trump and Eric Holder under President Obama.
The contempt charge is a formal recommendation that Garland be prosecuted. He is likely protected from legal repercussions as Biden has asserted executive privilege over audio.
If the Justice Department accepts the contempt ruling and charges Garland, the consequences could include a fine of up to $100,000.
After Congress found Trump advisers Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon in contempt, both were sentenced to prison.
If the Justice Department accepts the contempt ruling and charges Garland, the consequences could include a fine of up to $100,000 and imprisonment “for not less than one month nor more than twelve months,” according to the Congressional Research Service.
But the Justice Department is highly unlikely to prosecute its own leader.
The Office of Legal Counsel noted in May that no U.S. attorney has ever brought contempt charges against an official who asserted the president’s executive privilege.
Garland responded after the vote: “It is deeply disappointing that this House of Representatives has turned a serious congressional authority into a partisan weapon.”
‘Today’s vote ignores the constitutional separation of powers, the Justice Department’s need to protect its investigations, and the substantial amount of information we have provided to the Committees. “I will always defend this Department, its employees, and its vital mission of defending our democracy.”
Republican Representative Dave Joyce He said of his opposition: “As a former prosecutor, I cannot, in good conscience, support a resolution that would further politicize our judicial system to score political points.”
‘The American people expect Congress to work for them, solve political problems and prioritize good government. Enough is enough.’
The Justice Department released written transcripts of the interview, but said releasing the audio could make it difficult for prosecutors to obtain recorded interviews in the future, and witnesses know they could be released to the public.
However, Republicans have suggested that the transcript of the interview could be inaccurate.
Biden has asserted executive privilege over the audio of Hur’s interviews with himself and his book’s ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer, to keep it out of the reach of the Republican Party.
Garland had lashed out before the contempt vote, saying last week that the Justice Department had gone to “extraordinary measures” to provide information to the committee.
“We have done everything we can to ensure that committees get answers to their legitimate requests, but this is not one,” Garland told reporters before a hearing to present his contempt charge.
Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., responded: ‘The White House is claiming privilege over the recordings, but has already waived the privilege by releasing the transcript of the interview.
The Justice Department also lashed out at Republican-led “conspiratorial speculation” about coordination between the Justice Department and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in prosecuting Trump.
Deputy Attorney General Carlos Uriarte wrote to Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan informing him that the Justice Department had conducted a search of emails between leadership there and Bragg’s office regarding an investigation or prosecution of former President Donald Trump. and found none.
“The self-justifying ‘perception’ asserted by the Committee is completely unfounded, yet the Committee continues to disseminate it widely,” Uriarte wrote.
“As the Attorney General stated at his hearing, the conspiracy theory that the recent jury verdict in New York state court was in any way controlled by the Department is not only false, it is irresponsible.”
Uriarte warned that the Republicans’ claims could put Justice Department officials at risk.
‘Indeed, accusations of wrongdoing made without (and indeed contrary to) evidence undermine confidence in the justice system and have contributed to increased threats of violence and attacks against career law enforcement officials and prosecutors. . Our extraordinary efforts to respond to your speculation should put an end to this speculation.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and lead prosecutor Matthew Colangelo agreed to testify before House Republicans on July 12.
Republicans have pointed to Colangelo as evidence of collusion when he left the Justice Department in December 2022 and later joined Bragg’s team.
Republicans have pointed to former Justice Department official Matthew Colangelo as evidence of collusion when he left the Justice Department in December 2022 and later joined Bragg’s team.
Republicans are planning a vote to hold Merrick Garland in contempt on Wednesday.
The Justice Department said its search “did not identify any instances in which Mr. Colangelo had email communications with the District Attorney’s office during his time at the Department.”
Bragg’s case against Trump led to a conviction last month on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
House Republicans are planning a vote to impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland for contempt of Congress, although with a margin of error of two votes, the vote is on shaky ground. The contempt ruling relates to the Justice Department’s refusal to turn over audio of President Biden’s special counsel interview and the interview with Biden’s ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer.
The Justice Department offered transcripts of the interview, but said that releasing the audio would be detrimental to its ability to get subjects to agree to recorded interviews.
Judiciary and Armament Chairman Jim JOrdan said Colangelo has an “obsession” with investigating Trump “rather than prosecuting a crime.”
“Given the perception that the Department of Justice is assisting in the politicized prosecution of District Attorney Bragg, we write to request information and documents related to Mr. Colangelo’s employment with the New York Attorney General’s Office.”
In December 2022, Colangelo, President Joe Biden’s third highest-ranking Justice Department official, surprised his colleagues by packing his bags and leaving for the Big Apple to take a less senior position working for the Manhattan district attorney. , Alvin Bragg.
Colangelo’s “unusual” move was technically a demotion, former US Deputy Attorney General John Yoo told DailyMail.com.
“Going from (the Justice Department) to the Manhattan district attorney’s office must mean someone is a true believer,” said Yoo, who served in the George W. Bush administration and now teaches law at the University of California. in Berkeley.
“This suggests that the prosecutor here is after the man, Trump, and not the crime,” Yoo said. He also helped lead an investigation into ties between Trump’s 2016 campaign and his charity, the Donald J. Trump Foundation.
That investigation resulted in a 2018 settlement in which Trump denied wrongdoing but agreed to dissolve the foundation.
From there, Colangelo dove straight into Trump’s business empire looking for any accounting irregularities.
During that investigation, Colangelo personally questioned the former president’s son, Eric Trump, in a deposition.
When the younger Trump complained that prosecutors were targeting his father in an act of political sabotage, Colangelo snapped.
“I can’t spend all day with this kind of outrageous response,” he said.
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York declined to bring charges against Trump over Stormy Daniels’ payment.
The feds had reportedly concluded that they probably couldn’t prove that Trump intended to violate the law, and they closed the matter in the summer of 2019.
