DOJ rebuffs House GOP's request for Hur-Biden interview audio

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Source: Politico

The Justice Department is rebuffing House Republicans’ demands to hand over audio of former special counsel Robert Hur’s interview with President Joe Biden.

The DOJ sent a letter to Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) saying it would not turn over the audio by the House GOP's Monday deadline. Officials warned that handing over the interview audio could negatively impact future investigations.

“Even assuming the Committees did have a remaining investigative purpose behind their request for the audio files that has not been rebutted by the information produced so far — and they has not identified one — it is critical for the Department to understand why the Committees believe they have a remaining need for the information in these files,” assistant attorney general Carlos Uriarte wrote in the letter to Comer and Jordan, a copy of which was obtained by POLITICO.

They did, however, hand over the transcript of the Hur team interview with Mark Zwonitzer, Biden’s ghost writer.

House Republicans have warned they could hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress if the Justice Department didn’t hand over information from Hur’s investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents. The Justice Department previously handed over transcripts of Hur’s interview with Biden, as well as providing access to documents referenced in his report, but Republicans specifically wanted the audio of the interview.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/04/08/congress/doj-rebuffs-house-gop-request-00151113

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1. DOJ tells House Republicans they won't be handing over audio of President Biden's interview w/ SC Hur,

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2. Justice Department blasts GOP effort to hold Attorney General Garland in contempt over Biden audio

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Monday blasted Republicans’ effort to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt over his refusal to turn over unredacted materials related to the special counsel probe into President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents.

In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, the Justice Department rejected the demand from House Republicans that the agency turn over the full audio of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s hourslong interviews with Biden and his ghostwriter. Republicans had given the Justice Department until Monday to provide the audio.

Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte, the Justice Department’s head of congressional affairs, said in the letter to Reps. James Comer and Jim Jordan that despite GOP claims to the contrary, the department has complied with each of the four elements of the subpoena that House Republicans sent in February.

“The Committees’ reaction is difficult to explain in terms of any lack of information or frustration of any informational or investigative imperative, given the Department’s actual conduct,” Uriarte wrote. “We are therefore concerned that the Committees are disappointed not because you didn’t receive information, but because you did.”

https://apnews.com/article/biden-classified-documents-special-counsel-hur-congress-garland-91b60bc1f2a9db2e1ec4a131836ab10a