On Politics

Wed Jun 12 2024

Sudiksha Kochi | Congress, Campaigns and Democracy Reporter

@KochiSudiksha

Hey OnPolitics readers! House Republicans will ramp up their fight with the Biden administration's Department of Justice as early as Wednesday, preparing to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress.

The lower chamber is expected to vote on the contempt resolution as retaliation after the Department of Justice refused to hand over recordings of President Joe Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur, USA TODAY's Ken Tran reported. Hur investigated whether Biden mishandled classified documents after his tenure as vice president but ultimately didn't recommend any criminal charges.

📼Why do Republicans want the recordings? Republicans, led by House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., and House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, have sought Biden's interview audio for months after Hur's report characterized the president as a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."

❓Will the contempt effort pass? Given Republicans' razor-thin majority in the House, where the GOP can generally only afford to lose a couple of votes, there's consternation among lawmakers about whether the contempt effort will pass. Republican leaders could pull the resolution if they lack the necessary votes in order to avoid a public, embarrassing defeat.

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❌What are Garland and the DOJ saying? Garland has accused Republicans of launching growing attacks against the Department of Justice in an op-ed in the Washington Post on Tuesday morning. The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel determined the recording falls under executive privilege, and Garland shouldn't be punished for following the president's order to keep the recording confidential, according to Carlos Uriarte, an associate attorney general.

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White House won't rule out commuting Hunter Biden's sentence

President Joe Biden talks with his son Hunter Biden upon arrival at Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Delaware, on June 11, 2024, as he travels to Wilmington, Delaware. A jury found Hunter Biden guilty on June 11 on federal gun charges in a historic first criminal prosecution of the child of a sitting US president.

Joe Biden has said he will accept the outcome of Hunter Biden's gun case and not pardon his son, but the White House would not rule out a commutation.

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