by Nicholas Ballasy
On Wednesday, the Republican-led House voted to approve a resolution finding Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress.
The vote in favor of the measure earlier in the day was 208 to 207.
The final vote in favor of the resolution was 216–207.
The contempt resolution focuses on Garland’s refusal to turn over an audio recording of President Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur, who was investigating Biden’s handling of classified documents.
Biden invoked executive privilege to prevent the recording from being shared.
Democrats argued in the House that the transcript of the hearing contained in the special counsel’s report was sufficient and public release of the recording was not necessary.
Republicans argued that for transparency reasons, the recording should be released.
GOP lawmakers who support the release of the video said portions of Hur’s report raised concerns, especially the part about Biden’s memory.
“We also considered that at trial, Mr. Biden would likely appear before the jury, as he did at our hearing, as a compassionate, well-meaning older man with a poor memory,” Hur wrote.
“Based on our direct interactions with him and his observations, this is someone about whom many jurors will want to dispel reasonable doubt. “It would be difficult to convince a jury that it should convict him – then a former president in his 80s – of a serious crime requiring an intentional mental state,” he added.
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Nicholas Ballasy is a reporter for Just the News.
Photo “Merrick Garland” by Ministry of Justice.
