DOJ Refuses to Prosecute Garland for Contempt

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Facts

  • The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has decided not to press criminal charges against Attorney General Merrick Garland for contempt of Congress, arguing that America's top law enforcement officer did not commit a crime.1
  • In a letter to House Speaker Mike Jonhson (R-La.) dated Friday, a department official stressed that the DOJ has a consistent policy of not prosecuting officials who do not comply with subpoenas when a president makes a claim of executive privilege — which Pres. Joe Biden did last month.2
  • This comes as the House of Representatives voted last Wednesday, 216 to 207, to hold Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas.3
  • The House Committees on Oversight and Accountability and Judiciary summoned the attorney general in late February, requesting audio files related to Special Counsel Robert Hur's investigation into Biden's handling of classified material.4
  • Republicans have requested access to these audio recordings as Hur publicly described Biden as an 'elderly man with a poor memory' after an interview with the president.5
  • Later on Friday, Johnson issued a statement disagreeing with the DOJ's decision. He further pledged to enforce the subpoena against Garland in federal court to obtain the audio tapes.6

Sources: 1BBC News, 2Los Angeles Times, 3New York Post, 4Breitbart, 5Forbes and 6CNN.

Narratives

  • Republican narrative, as provided by Newsmax. The Biden administration has created a two-tiered justice system in America, and this refusal to pursue contempt charges against Attorney General Merrick Garland just reaffirms this issue. It's utterly unacceptable that Biden's DOJ has ignored this referral for contempt, especially after prosecuting Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro for the same reason.
  • Democratic narrative, as provided by New York Times. Given that Pres. Joe Biden invoked executive privilege last month, no one should expect anything other than this decision. It has been a longstanding position of the DOJ — no matter which party is in office — not to charge officials with contempt for declining to comply with congressional subpoenas for material subject to presidential executive privilege.

Predictions