House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said the House Judiciary Committee plans to sue to force Attorney General Merrick Garland to turn over audio recordings of President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur .
The lawsuit would be the latest effort to protect the tapes after the Justice Department told Congress it would not bring criminal charges against Garland despite a vote in the House to hold him in contempt.
“We will be filing a lawsuit next week against the Department of Justice to enforce this subpoena. We will go to the district court here in D.C., which is the appropriate venue, and we will fight vigorously to get it done,” Johnson told reporters on Wednesday.
Lawmakers already have a transcript of Biden’s conversation with Hur, but Republicans argue that listening to the tapes will provide more context about the special counsel’s comments about the president’s memory.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Florida) promised to imminently force a vote on a resolution that would allow the House sergeant-at-arms to detain Garland — a process permitted through such “inherent contempt” resolutions.
Johnson was evasive on Luna’s motion, however, saying his plan was one of several options being considered “in the meantime,” adding, “but I don’t think anything has been resolved yet.”
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A vote of inherent contempt would raise complicated questions for lawmakers.
It hasn’t been used in nearly 100 years, and House rules offer little guidance on what the attorney general’s detention would look like, especially given Garland’s protective detail at the FBI.
Luna described the measure as necessary to enforce the subpoena.
“This lawsuit demonstrates how seriously Congress views noncompliance and the potential consequences for those who refuse to cooperate,” she wrote in a letter to colleagues earlier this week.
The Justice Department, in announcing it would not bring charges against Garland, noted that Biden claimed executive privilege over the audio.
The department said administrations from both parties have declined to prosecute those who failed to comply with subpoenas when executive privilege was asserted over the materials.
Garland accused Republicans of using contempt as a partisan tool.
Emily Brooks contributed.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
