The House voted 216 to 207 to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress on Wednesday for refusing to hand over audiotapes of President Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur.
Republicans in the House already have a written transcript of the interview, but they have demanded a copy of the audio, accusing the Justice Department of covering up for Biden and any potential criminal activity.
The White House previously blocked the audio release by invoking executive privilege. It stated that Republicans in Congress wanted the recordings only “to chop them up” and use them for political purposes.
A 57-page internal Justice Department memo, obtained by the media on Wednesday, argued that Attorney General Garland was protected from prosecution for contempt of Congress due to President Biden’s use of executive privilege.
