Department of Justice Memo States Attorney General Merrick Garland’s Contempt is Not an Option

The Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel has stated that Attorney General Merrick Garland cannot be held in contempt for his refusal to provide audio of special counsel Robert Hur’s interview with President Joe Biden in the classified documents case.

The OLC offers guidance to the DOJ, the White House, and the executive branch on matters related to presidential authority, executive privilege, and separation of powers, among other issues.

The Hill report reveals that the House of Representatives plans to vote on a resolution holding Garland in contempt of Congress for withholding the audio.

Some weeks ago, the White House prevented the release of the recording to lawmakers.

“For almost seven decades and through various presidential administrations, the Executive Branch has maintained the position that the criminal contempt of Congress statute … does not apply to Executive Branch officials who refuse to comply with a congressional subpoena based on a presidential claim of executive privilege,” the OLC memo states.

“In line with this long-held position, no U.S. Attorney has pursued criminal contempt charges against an Executive Branch official invoking the president’s executive privilege claim.”

Following Hur’s decision not to prosecute Biden for his handling of classified documents, Republicans initiated an investigation.

Garland has supported the Justice Department, emphasizing their efforts to provide information to the committees regarding Hur’s investigation, including a transcript of Biden’s interview with him.

“Because the committees already have the transcripts of the special counsel’s interviews, the reasons provided by the committees for obtaining the recordings do not outweigh a privilege claim based on these vital separation of powers concerns,” the OLC mentioned in the memo.

“The audio recording does not contain any information relevant to the committees’ stated requirements that is not already available in the transcripts.”