Biden asserts executive privilege over Hur audio files ahead of House contempt proceedings against Garland

CNN
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President Joe Biden asserted executive privilege over recordings of his interview with special counsel Robert Hur, according to letters from the White House and Justice Department to House Republicans.

Republican lawmakers had previously subpoenaed audio recordings of Biden’s interviews, along with his ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer, and other items from Hur’s investigation into Biden’s handling of classified information. The House Oversight and Judiciary committees are scheduled to begin the process of holding Attorney General Merrick Garland accountable for contempt of Congress for failing to comply with these subpoenas on Thursday.

“Because of the President’s long-standing commitment to protecting the integrity, effectiveness, and independence of the Department of Justice and its law enforcement investigations, he has decided to assert executive privilege over the recordings,” White House counsel Edward Siskel wrote to House Oversight Chairman James. Comer and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan.

The White House highlighted that the Justice Department has already provided transcripts of the special counsel’s interviews with Biden and his ghostwriter, and has complied with other aspects of the Republicans’ initial subpoena.

Siskel accused Republicans of wanting to distort the audio recordings and criticized them for going after prosecutors they don’t agree with.

“The absence of a legitimate need for the audio recordings reveals their likely purpose – to cut, distort and use them for partisan political purposes,” Siskel wrote.

In light of the White House’s assertion of executive privilege, the Justice Department called on House Republicans to cancel their scheduled contempt proceedings.

“With the information they now have, the Committees should not proceed with contempt and should instead avoid unnecessary and unwarranted conflicts,” wrote Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legislative Affairs, Carlos Uriarte.

Uriarte also defended the need to protect the audiotapes: “We have repeatedly made clear that release of the subpoenaed audio recordings would undermine future law enforcement efforts and that the Committees’ continued demands raise serious concerns about the separation of powers.”

The transcript of the two-day interview between Hur and Biden’s team was released in March, ahead of Hur’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.

Hur did not recommend charges against Biden in his report and said the president in the interview came across as a “nice, well-intentioned elderly man with a poor memory.”

In April, CNN sued to gain access to recordings of Biden’s interview.

Through their subpoenas to the DOJ, House Republicans have argued that the audio recordings are crucial to the Biden impeachment inquiry, which remains stalled as the prospects of the investigation ending in impeachment are increasingly unlikely. Without the votes of their narrow majority or evidence of an impeachable offense, Republicans are now grappling with how to close their investigation and looking for ways to target other members of the Biden administration.

In their contempt reports, Republicans asserted that the DOJ cannot determine what information is useful to its investigation and argued that the verbal nuances of an audio recording provide unique insight into a matter that is not reflected in a transcript.

“The Constitution does not permit the executive branch to dictate to Congress how to proceed with an impeachment inquiry or conduct oversight thereof,” the report says.

Republicans, however, argue in their report that while interview transcripts reflect what was said, “they do not reflect important verbal context, such as tone or tenor, or nonverbal context, such as pauses or pace of delivery”.

Such pauses and inflections, the Republicans say, “may provide indications of a witness’s ability to recall events, or whether the individual is intentionally giving evasive or indifferent testimony to investigators.”

Republicans pointed to a recent example of when a transcript and an audio recording of the president diverged, stating that in a speech last month, Biden read aloud a teleprompter cue during his speech, which was reflected in the recording of the event, but not in the initial transcript of his remarks.

The House Oversight Committee has postponed the start time of its Thursday appointment so that Republican committee members can attend former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York City, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. planning.

When asked to comment on the reason for the schedule change, an Oversight Committee spokeswoman told CNN, “Due to member scheduling conflicts, scheduling is now beginning at a different time to accommodate member schedules.”

This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.