House Republicans are ready to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt over Biden audio

WASHINGTON — House Republicans plan to move forward next week with holding Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for his refusal to turn over the unredacted audio of an interview that was conducted as part of the special counsel probe into President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents. House Republicans last month threatened to hold Garland in contempt for refusing to fully comply with a congressional subpoena issued as part their probe into Special Counsel Robert Hur’s decision not to charge the president with any crimes. Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte, the department’s head of congressional affairs, said in the letter to Jordan and Comer last month that the committees’ interest in these records may not be “in service of legitimate oversight or investigatory functions, but to serve political purposes that should have no role in the treatment of law enforcement files.” Comer dismissed that rationale, saying in response that the Biden administration “does not get to determine what Congress needs and does not need for its oversight of the executive branch.” Contempt charges would require majority support in committee and then the support of the full House before a referral would be sent to the Justice Department. That was when the GOP-controlled House voted to make then-Attorney General Eric Holder the first sitting Cabinet member to be held in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over documents related to the gun-running operation known as Operation Fast and Furious.