House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, said House Republicans plan to file a lawsuit next week to force the Department of Justice to turn over audio tapes of special counsel Robert Hur’s meetings with President Biden.
“We will be filing a lawsuit against the Department of Justice next week to enforce the subpoena, we will be suing in the appropriate venue, the District Court in Washington, and we will be fighting vigorously to have the subpoena enforced,” Johnson told reporters at a daily news conference.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has refused to subpoena the audio tapes by House Republican investigators, citing Biden’s assertion of executive privilege.
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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (right) passed a contempt resolution against Attorney General Merrick Garland (left) in the House of Representatives. (Getty Images)
Hoare declined to indict Biden over his handling of classified documents, saying the 81-year-old president described himself as a “caring, well-meaning elderly man with a declining memory” and that it would be “difficult to persuade a jury that a former president, already in his 80s, should be convicted of a felony that requires a wayward state of mind.”
Biden and his allies vehemently denied concerns about his mental health in the wake of the report, and the Justice Department also released full transcripts of their interviews.
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Attorney General Merrick Garland is being held in contempt of Congress for failing to provide lawmakers with audio of a call between Special Counsel Robert Hur (left) and President Joe Biden (right). (Getty Images)
But Republicans seeking the recording say it would provide important context about Biden’s state of mind, while Democrats have dismissed the request as a partisan effort. Politicize Department of Justice.
Following Garland’s refusal, House Republicans earlier this month filed a criminal contempt suit against him and directed the Justice Department to file criminal charges against him, which the Justice Department ultimately dismissed.
But Johnson’s new threat comes as Rep. Ana Paulina Luna, R-Fla., is trying to force a vote on her own “intrinsic contempt” resolution against Garland, a little-used congressional procedure that would instruct chambers to detain Garland and hold a trial by the House itself.
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Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., introduced a resolution to hold Garland in substantial contempt. (Getty Images)
The measure has not been used since the 1930s and has never been used against cabinet ministers.
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Asked about Luna’s plans at a news conference, Johnson said: “I’ve discussed a range of ideas with Anna Paulina Luna and other colleagues, but I don’t think anything has been decided at this point.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.
