House Republicans plan to take first step to convict Biden’s ghostwriter for contempt of Congress: sources

The House Judiciary Committee plans to take the first step toward detaining President Joe Biden’s ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer, for contempt of Congress, two sources familiar with the committee’s plans told ABC News.

The committee plans to conduct a “review” of the contempt resolution on Thursday, which would be followed by a committee vote, the sources said. The move would pave the way for a vote in the House to hold Zwonitzer in contempt.

News of the committee’s plans was first reported by ABC News.

In March, Republican House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan subpoenaed Zwonitzer after he failed to turn over documents including transcripts, audio and video recordings of his interviews with Biden for the president’s two memoirs, “Promises to Keep” and “Promise Me, Dad.”

In a copy of the resolution obtained by ABC News, Republicans repeatedly highlight Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents.

Hur’s report said Biden “relied extensively on notebook notes he took during his vice presidency” to write “Promise Me, Dad” and referenced the notebooks during interviews with Zwonitzer.

“Mr. Biden told Zwonitzer that some information in the notebook may be classified. Some of these entries remain classified up to the Top Secret level,” Hur said in his report.

The report suggests that Biden was inconsistent in how he handled classified information, stating that he appeared to have at times “stopped or skipped over potentially classified materials” while also stating that at other times , Biden was “reading his notes from classified meetings in Zwonitzer.” almost word for word. »

According to Hur’s report, Zwonitzer deleted recordings of interviews he conducted with Biden after learning of the special prosecutor’s investigation, but voluntarily turned over his notes and devices. Hur decided not to file charges against Biden or Zwonitzer.

House Republicans insist that Zwonitzer’s failure to fully comply with the House Judiciary Committee’s demands “hindered” their own investigation.

“Zwonitzer continues to withhold all documents and materials in its possession that respond to the Committee’s subpoena,” the resolution states. “The documents requested from Zwonitzer are crucial to the Committee’s understanding of the manner and extent of President Biden’s mishandling and unlawful disclosure of classified documents, as well as the use, storage and Zwonitzer’s deletion of classified documents from his computer.”

ABC News has reached out to Zwonitzer’s attorney for comment.

The move comes after the House of Representatives voted to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for refusing to turn over audio of Biden’s interview with Hur to the House Oversight and Judiciary committees. The DOJ later said it declined to prosecute Garland for contempt, according to a letter obtained by ABC News.

House Speaker Mike Johnson called the vote to hold Garland in contempt “an important step in maintaining the integrity of our oversight processes and responsibilities.”