House Oversight votes to hold Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress

The House Oversight Committee passed a resolution on Thursday, to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena that demanded the audio recording of President Joe Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur. 

The resolution passed in a 24-20 vote and will now go to a full House floor vote.

The House Committees on Oversight and Accountability and Judiciary issued subpoenas to Garland on February 27, 2024 for "records, including transcripts, notes, video, and audio files, related to Hur’s investigation of Biden’s willful mishandling of classified information," according to committee staff.

The resolution was advanced out of the House Judiciary Committee earlier Thursday, after Biden evoked "executive privilege" over the audio and video recordings, which the White House said was done in conjunction with Garland's office. The recording was done as part of Hur's investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents when he was vice president.

"The attorney general made it clear that law enforcement files like these need to be protected," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, according to Fox News. "And so the president made his determination at the request of the attorney general."

The transcript of the interview has already been released, but Republican lawmakers claimed they cannot show the president's cognitive state.

Hur released his report on the documents case in February, and did not recommend any criminal charges be brought against Biden. But he described the president as a "sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory," which has stirred concerns over his mental acuity and his ability to lead the country as commander-in-chief for another four years.

The White House and Garland have pushed back against this narrative, with Garland claiming he has "complete confidence" in Biden's mental fitness.