House Republicans, Justice Department face off over Biden audiotapes

Washington — Republicans connected nan House Judiciary Committee and Attorney General Merrick Garland are in court Monday successful a conflict complete audio recordings of President Biden's question and reply pinch Rober Hur, nan typical counsel who investigated his handling of classified materials aft his vice presidency. 

The committee sued Garland successful July successful nan U.S. District Court successful nan District of Columbia, escalating nan conflict complete nan audiotapes of Hur's interview pinch nan president and nan ghostwriter of his book, Mark Zwonitzer. Hur interviewed some men arsenic portion of his investigation. 

Hur declined to activity criminal charges against Mr. Biden for his handling of nan documents. The president said he was mostly unaware of really classified authorities records from his decades-long profession successful nationalist agency ended up successful his homes and backstage office, according to nan transcript of nan interview, which was released successful March. Hur said nan grounds did not found beyond a reasonable uncertainty that Mr. Biden had violated nan law. 

However, nan typical counsel made a number of observations astir nan president's representation that enraged nan White House and provided governmental ammunition to Republicans, whose impeachment inquiry into nan president fizzled out. 

Republicans connected nan sheet based on that they needed nan audiotapes "because they connection unsocial and invaluable penetration astir accusation that cannot beryllium captured successful a transcript, specified arsenic vocal tone, pace, inflections, verbal nuance, and different idiosyncrasies," according to nan lawsuit, which asked nan tribunal to bid nan Justice Department to manus complete nan material.

"Audio recordings are amended grounds than transcripts of what happened during nan typical counsel's interviews pinch President Biden and Mr. Zwonitzer," nan suit said. "For example, they incorporate verbal and nonverbal discourse that is missing from a acold transcript. That verbal and nonverbal discourse is rather important present because nan typical counsel relied connected nan measurement that President Biden presented himself during their question and reply — 'as a sympathetic, well-meaning, aged man pinch a mediocre memory' — erstwhile yet recommending that President Biden should not beryllium prosecuted for unlawfully retaining and disclosing classified information." 

The GOP-led House voted successful June to clasp Garland in contempt of Congress aft nan White House asserted executive privilege complete nan recordings, blocking their merchandise to lawmakers.

The Justice Department, which has a longstanding argumentation to not prosecute officials for refusing to move complete subpoenaed accusation shielded nether executive privilege, declined to return up nan contempt referral. 

But Republicans person based on that nan president waived executive privilege erstwhile nan Justice Department released transcripts of nan interviews.  

In August, nan Justice Department said successful a tribunal filing nan committee grounded to admit "the bonzer level of disclosure nan Executive Branch has already made, nan deficiency of important Congressional request for further accusation and nan beardown rule enforcement liking successful protecting nan integrity of early investigations." 

"The committee's vanishingly mini informational needs travel obscurity adjacent to overcoming nan assertion of privilege. For these reasons, nan tribunal should norm successful favour of nan department," nan Justice Department said, asking nan tribunal to disregard nan case. 

On nan committee's assertion that it needs nan audiotapes to measure Mr. Biden's intelligence state, nan Justice Department based on that Hur "testified earlier nan committee connected this very question, and that proceeding provided ample opportunity to probe nan typical counsel's 'subjective view.'" The statement that nan recordings are captious to nan impeachment enquiry "fares nary better," it said. 

"The committee besides fails to place immoderate questions directed to whether President Biden sought to enrich himself by retaining classified information. Instead, it piles conjecture connected conjecture, arguing that nan recordings whitethorn uncover whether President Biden 'seemed deceptive' erstwhile discussing 'the classified materials that he yet relied upon erstwhile penning his memoir,' which whitethorn lead nan committee to 'decide that further investigative steps are necessary,' which whitethorn uncover 'an maltreatment of agency that could represent an impeachable offense,'" it said.