House GOP votes to hold Attorney General Garland in contempt

The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to hold US Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over subpoenaed audio recordings.

The recordings are of President Joe Biden’s interviews with former special counsel Robert Hur, who investigated Biden’s handling of classified material and declined to bring charges.

The White House previously pointed out that the Department of Justice has already provided transcripts and has complied with the other aspects of the initial subpoena from Republicans.

The vote was 216 to 207 with one Republican voting against it – Rep. Dave Joyce of Ohio. 

Here's a recap:

• Tension between White House and Capitol Hill: The vote marks an escalation in a monthslong dispute over the recordings between House Republicans and the executive branch that came after Biden asserted executive privilege over the files. The DOJ has stood by its decision not to release them, claiming that Republicans have not established a legitimate legislative purpose. It also argued that audio recordings come with specific privacy concerns that could dissuade cooperation from future witnesses in criminal investigations.
• What Garland said: In a statement, Garland said it was “deeply disappointing that this House of Representatives has turned a serious congressional authority into a partisan weapon." He said the vote "disregards the constitutional separation of powers" and argued that the Justice Department needs to protect its investigations.
• What lawmakers said: Republicans say that access to the tapes would provide valuable information beyond what a written transcript can offer and is about transparency and oversight. One Democratic lawmaker argued Republicans did not have a "legitimate purpose" for the recordings and said they wanted the files solely for political purposes. After the vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson said Republicans did their job defending the Constitution.
• What will happen next: Johnson will certify the report to the United States attorney for the District of Columbia. Under the law, this certification requires the US attorney to “bring the matter before the grand jury for its action,” but the Justice Department will also make its own determinations on prosecution.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Republicans did their job defending Article I of the Constitution by voting to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress and that he was "pleased with the outcome" of Wednesday's vote. 

Asked if Garland should be prosecuted, Johnson told CNN, "Look, we did our job on the contempt, and I think it sends an important message. We're defending Article I and our authority for oversight, and we have to do that." 

"We'll see what happens next," he said after exiting the House floor. 

"We'll see what happens next," he said after exiting the House floor. 
"The House has to do its work, and I'm pleased with the outcome," Johnson added. 

Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, who voted to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress on Wednesday, said the issue of obtaining audio recordings of President Joe Biden's interviews with a special counsel is all about transparency.

“We want to make sure it matches what the transcript says,” she told CNN, adding that it is an oversight issue.

Pushed on whether Republicans want the audio so they can put it in political attack ads heading into the 2024 presidential election, Malliotakis said Democrats “could fear whatever they like," but that doesn't mean "they shouldn't be complying with the subpoena from the House of Representatives."

Generally, the larger issue is that if there is a subpoena, the information should be provided, she said, calling it “cut and dry.”

"It always seems that there's zero transparency. We've had so much difficulty — it's not just this issue with this administration, it's multiple issues where we're trying to do our oversight responsibility," Malliotakis said, adding that Americans deserve to see and hear everything.

"We're seeing that happen time and again where people feel that they can just violate federal law and what we believe is proper oversight," the New York lawmaker added.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said it is “deeply disappointing that this House of Representatives has turned a serious congressional authority into a partisan weapon” after the chamber voted to hold him in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over the audio recordings of President Joe Biden’s interviews with former special counsel Robert Hur, who investigated Biden’s handling of classified material and declined to bring charges.

“Today’s vote disregards 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,” Garland said in a statement.

One Democratic lawmaker said Republicans do not have a "legitimate purpose" to have the audio recordings they requested from the Department of Justice of President Joe Biden’s interviews with former special counsel Robert Hur.

The House voted to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn those recordings over.

“What they really want to do is release it to help Donald Trump and misconstrue these recordings, use them during the campaign, and that is a legitimate purpose,” Rep. Daniel Goldman told CNN after the vote.

The New York lawmaker claimed that the Department of Justice being forced to turn over the recording would have a "chilling impact on any future cooperation of witnesses who would know they would be recorded" and argued that the transcript is enough to fulfill the purpose of congressional oversight.

The vote came after President Joe Biden asserted executive privilege over the files. Hur investigated Biden’s handling of classified material and declined to bring charges.

“They’re not prosecuting. They're not trying to determine whether to prosecute him," Goldman said, referring to Biden. "And there is no legislation they can identify. There's no oversight they can identify that points to why they need the audio recording."

House Speaker Mike Johnson was uncertain if Republicans would ultimately impeach President Joe Biden, but said the process would continue to play out "methodically," while brushing off criticism from Democrats.  

"We have to do what the Constitution requires us to do regardless of the outcome. We don't predetermine the outcome. We follow the process. We do it very methodically and slowly," Johnson said. "Unlike the other team, that did snap impeachments and political impeachments. That's not what we've done." 
"The inquiry has been done in the right way on the right timeline," Johnson said. "I know people are anxious for final results, but you can't rush these things if you do it the right way."  

Asked if he thinks they will impeach him, he said "I don't know." 

"There's a lot of conduct that begs answers," Johnson said, accusing the Biden family of receiving "millions of dollars, in some cases, from foreign nations and adversaries."

"There's not been a final accountability for that," he said. 

"We'll see what comes out in the end," he added. "In spite of criticism, we have to follow the Constitution." 

Johnson scoffed at Democrat criticism of Republicans for spending millions to go after Biden. 

"If they consider the fulfillment of our constitutional responsibility to be a waste of funding, then I think it says more about their priorities than ours," Johnson told reporters. 

"Return on that investment is ensuring accountability to the people," Johnson said. "There's been a lot exposed and there's a lot more yet to be exposed." 

House Republicans voted Wednesday to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over the audio recordings of President Joe Biden’s interviews with former special counsel Robert Hur, who investigated Biden’s handling of classified material and declined to bring charges.

The vote was 216 to 207 with one Republican voting against it – Rep. Dave Joyce of Ohio. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson will now certify the report to the United States attorney for the District of Columbia.

Under law, this certification then requires the US attorney to “bring the matter before the grand jury for its action,” but the Justice Department will also make its own determinations for prosecuting.

This post was updated with more details on the vote.

House Republicans have begun voting on a resolution to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over audio recordings of President Joe Biden's interviews with former special counsel Robert Hur as part of the probe into his handling of classified documents.

The vote marks a major escalation in a months-long dispute over the recordings between House Republicans and the executive branch that came after Biden asserted executive privilege over the files.

Holding the nation’s top law enforcement officer in contempt would build on the Republican allegation that the Justice Department has been weaponized against conservatives — a claim that has been particularly ratcheted up in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s conviction in New York for falsifying business records.

House Speaker Mike Johnson expressed confidence that his chamber has the votes to hold Attorney Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over the audio recordings of President Joe Biden’s interviews with former special counsel Robert Hur.

“I believe we do, yeah,” Johnson told CNN on his way out to the House floor.