The House voted to approve a Republican-led resolution to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress on Wednesday afternoon.
Republican lawmakers voted to hold the attorney general in contempt after he defied a congressional subpoena demanding the DOJ turn over the audio recording of special counsel Robert Hur’s interview with President Joe Biden. Previously, Garland had given the committee a transcript of the interview but refused to hand over the full audio.
The House voted to find Garland in contempt by a vote margin of 216-207. Following the vote, the contempt vote will be recommended to the DOJ for prosecution.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will now certify a report for the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. The law requires the attorney to bring the contempt charge to a grand jury before taking action; however, the DOJ will make its own determination regarding prosecution.
Despite Republicans already having access to the full transcript conversation between Hur and Biden, they have connected the issue to their current impeachment probe of the president. Moreover, GOP lawmakers have used the transcript to probe Hur’s comments regarding Biden’s poor memory.
Following his investigation, Hur declined to prosecute Biden over his handling of classified material, claiming in the report that a jury may sympathize with the president due to his poor memory.
Although the Wednesday vote on the House floor does formally censure the attorney general, it will likely not lead
Additionally, Biden has claimed executive privilege over the audio tapes, which may provide Garland a legal basis for ignoring the congressional subpoena.
Watch the clip above via CNN.