House Republicans ready to scorn Merrick Garland for refusing to provide audio of Biden’s interview with special counsel

House Republicans will move forward with contempt of Congress charges against Attorney General Merrick Garland next week for his refusal to comply with a subpoena regarding audio recordings of the president’s interview Biden with former special advisor Robert Hur.

The House Judiciary Committee plans to hold a markup meeting on May 16, during which members will debate and consider adding amendments to the contempt resolution before sending it to the full House for a vote, a source close to the matter confirmed to the Post.

Garland was served with a subpoena for audio files of Biden’s lengthy interview with Hur, as part of the former special adviser’s investigation into the president’s handling of classified White House documents, in late February by the House Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.).

The subpoena was issued after the Justice Department’s top official failed to respond to a committee request for documents related to the two-day interview.

A transcript of Hur’s October 8 and 9 interviews with the 81-year-old president was eventually released by the DOJ, which showed that Biden mixed up key dates during the meetings, including forgetting the year his son Beau died from brain cancer and the year Donald Trump was elected president.

In an 11-page letter sent to both committees last month, Deputy Attorney General Carlos Uriarte rejected claims that the interview recordings contained information relevant to the Republican-led impeachment inquiry into Biden.

Uriarte called the contempt threats over the recordings “unjustifiable,” arguing that Garland had properly complied with the subpoena by releasing the interview transcripts.

“If the purpose of the Committees is to receive information from the Department to advance your investigations, that purpose has been more than accomplished,” Uriarte wrote. “Our cooperation has been extraordinary.”

“We do not obtain evidence for criminal investigations so that it can then be used for political purposes,” he added.

Hur, a former Trump-appointed U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland, submitted his findings on Biden’s handling of classified information in early February.

His explosive 388-page report said there was evidence that the commander in chief “deliberately retained and disclosed classified documents,” but his team concluded there was not enough evidence to prove this. beyond all reasonable doubt.”

Hur also expressed concern that a jury would perceive the oldest president in U.S. history as an “old, sympathetic, well-meaning man with a bad memory.”