Closing summary
The Republican-controlled House judiciary committee advanced a resolution to hold attorney general Merrick Garland in contempt for not turning over recordings of Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur. Earlier in the day, the president moved to invoke executive privilege to keep the records out of the public eye, while the justice department argued that Republican lawmakers demanding the audio offered no good reason why they should be made public, and worried their release would chill future investigations. Judiciary committee chair Jim Jordan responded that the White House’s transcripts of Biden’s interview with Hur, who was investigating the president’s possession of classified documents, cannot be trusted to be accurate. The House oversight committee will consider the resolution later tonight, and is expected to approve it.
Here’s what else happened today:
Biden announced that the justice department would ease restrictions on marijuana, the biggest policy shift over the drug in decades.
The Republican push to access audio of Biden’s interview with Hur is likely an attempt to refocus voters’ attention on the president’s age, and the special counsel’s comments about his memory.
Rightwing representative Matt Gaetz traveled to Donald Trump’s business fraud trial in New York City, and echoed language the ex-president used to address the Proud Boys, a far-right group whose members were involved in the January 6 insurrection.
The Dow Jones industrial average hit an all-time high, and Biden seized on it to argue Americans were benefitting.
The supreme court rejected a challenge to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau brought by the payday loan industry that could have undermined the agency tasked with curbing predatory lending.
Updated
Even as they move to hold attorney general Merrick Garland in contempt, House Republicans are publicly continuing their impeachment investigation of Joe Biden.
The GOP alleges that the president illicitly benefited from his family members’ overseas business dealings, but has yet to turn up proof. Today, James Comer, the chair of the House oversight committee and a leader of the investigation, announced another volley of subpoenas intended to reveal more about the Biden family’s finances:
🚨🧵Today, @GOPoversight sent a targeted subpoena for bank records connected to James Biden, Sara Biden, and Hunter Biden.
— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) May 16, 2024
We know the Biden family set up over 20 shell companies & raked in over $24 million from China, Russia, and other foreign adversaries. @MariaBartiromo pic.twitter.com/kpfJpDrl41
Last month, CNN reported that Comer said privately that he was ready to be “done with” the impeachment investigation, and it’s unclear whether enough Republicans would vote to advance the charges through the House.
Updated
