A White House move to withhold audio recordings Thursday did not derail a push from House Republicans to recommend holding Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in contempt of Congress.
President Joe Biden invoked executive privilege over audio recordings of former special counsel Robert K. Hur’s interviews with the president and a ghostwriter who worked with Biden. The privilege generally has given a president the authority to withhold information to protect the executive branch’s ability to confer and make decisions outside of public view.
A transcript of the Biden interview has been released publicly, but the House Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight and Accountability Committee issued subpoenas in February to Garland to compel the production of the audio. Both committees held markups on the issue Thursday.
