The Justice Department will not produce subpoenaed recordings of former special counsel Robert Hur`s interview with President Biden before House Republicans, putting Attorney General Merrick Garland at risk.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, has threatened to hold Congress in contempt over the Justice Department’s failure to produce records.
Justice Department met the Republican response deadline but informed lawmakers it would not release audio files of Hur’s interview about Biden’s alleged improper retention of classified documents dating back to his tenure as senator and vice president.
The Justice Department agreed to turn over some other documents, such as a transcript of an interview with Mark Zwonitzer, Biden’s ghostwriter. But Comer and Jordan warned Garland last month that if he did not turn over the recordings, ‘‘the committees will consider taking further action, such as citing contempt of due process by Congress.”
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Comer and Jordan subpoenaed the Justice Department to provide the transcript of Hur’s interview with Biden and the recordings. Just hours before Hur testified publicly last month, the DOJ provided the committee with two redacted transcripts of Hur’s interviews with Biden.
However, the Department of Justice did not provide audio recordings of the interviews. Meanwhile, Comer and Jordan called up Mark Zwonitzer last month.
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The subpoena requires Zwonitzer to turn over all documents and communications with Biden or his team related to his ghostwriting work on the memoirs “Promise Me, Dad” and “Promises Will Keep,” including emails, call logs, etc.
The subpoena also requires Zwonitzer to turn over all contracts and agreements related to his work, as well as audio recordings of interviews and conversations with Biden and transcripts of the conversations and that interview.
Hur testified last month that Zwonitzer ‘‘put‘‘ audio files and transcripts of conversations with Biden “in the trash on his computer” after learning that a special adviser had been appointed to investigate the case.
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Hur, who released his report to the public in February after months of investigation, did not recommend criminal charges against Biden for mishandling and retaining classified documents — and stated that he would not bring charges against Biden even if he were not in the Oval Office.
Those records included classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan and other countries, among other records related to national security and foreign policy, which Hur said implicated “sensitive intelligence sources and methods.”
Hur, in his report, described Biden as a “sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory” – a description that has raised significant concerns for Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign.
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