Garland Held in Contempt by US House

Facts

• The Republican-majority US House voted along party lines Wednesday to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for his refusal to turn over audio of Democratic Pres. Joe Biden's interview with a special counsel.¹
• Republicans, who say they need the audio as part of an ongoing impeachment inquiry of the president, have pursued the recordings since Special Counsel Robert Hur's written report described Biden as a 'sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.'²
• Hur decided not to prosecute Biden for his handling of classified documents, but wrote it 'would be difficult to convince a jury' to convict him of a 'serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.'³
• Rep. David Joyce of Ohio was the lone Republican who didn't back the resolution, which passed by a 216-207 vote.⁴
• Garland, who faces up to one year in jail and a $100K fine, in a statement, lamented what he called the House's disregard for the constitutional separation of powers.⁴
• The DOJ has provided Republicans with a transcript of the interview. And last week Garland testified before the Judiciary Committee, saying Republicans don't have a legitimate purpose for obtaining the recordings, over which Biden has asserted executive privilege.⁵

Sources: ¹Associated Press, ²USA Today, ³FOX News, ⁴BBC News and ⁵ABC News.

Narratives

• Democratic narrative, as provided by MSNBC. This is a political game Republicans are playing in order to distract from the legal troubles of former Pres. Donald Trump, the GOP's presumptive nominee for president. Republicans received a transcript of Hur's interview and their pursuit of the recordings is just part of the off-the-wall conspiracy theories they have to sell to their followers to distract from their deficiencies.
• Republican narrative, as provided by Townhall. This isn't about politics, it's about an attorney general who believes he's above the law and an administration that's doing all it can to obfuscate this situation. A recording is always superior evidence to a transcript, and Congress has a right to hear what Hur said as part of their investigation into the president's possible crimes or incompetence. Besides, the president lost executive privilege when he released the transcript.

Predictions