(BrightPress.org) – President Joe Biden invoked executive privilege to prevent the release of recorded audio from his interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur while being investigated for mishandling classified documents. The executive action is also said to include interviews between Biden and ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer.
Attorney General Merrick Garland wrote a letter asking Biden to block the release of the recordings. House Republicans have subpoenaed the recordings, and Garland has refused to hand them over. The executive action prevents Garland from being prosecuted if he is held in contempt for his refusal to hand over the recordings.
White House Counsel Edward N. Siskel wrote in a letter that there is “no legitimate need” for the recordings to be released. A transcript of the interview was released two months ago. Siskel claims the House Republicans only want the audio recordings so they can “chop them up” to be used for their own political purposes.
Republicans claim they need the recordings to continue pursuing impeachment charges against Biden. Hur cleared Biden of criminal wrongdoing in the mishandled documents case, blaming the incident on Biden being “an elderly man with a poor memory” which could fuel Republicans and help Trump’s presidential campaign. Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) said the previously released transcripts are not sufficient for their needs.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed the issue as unimportant because the transcript had already been released to the public and because Biden was simply acting on the request of the attorney general to protect law enforcement files. According to Garland’s letter to the president, releasing the audio recordings could potentially undermine the Department’s “ability to conduct similar high-profile criminal investigations.”
Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign said Biden has “irretrievably politicized” the constitutional tenet of executive privilege. Cheung claims the executive action to protect the records is a ploy to “run political cover for Crooked Joe.”
James Comer said the move to protect the recordings “changes nothing for our committee” and the recommendation will be made that Garland be held in contempt of Congress for “defying a lawful subpoena.”
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