On Monday, the House Judiciary Committee voted to approve one resolution That recommends filing charges of contempt of Congress against Attorney General Merrick Garland, according to a statement on X from Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan (R).
🚨 #BREAKING: @Jim_Jordan Release a report recommending that the House impeach AG Merrick Garland for contempt of Congress
Read here: https://t.co/3em14Dby4e
– House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) May 13, 2024
According to the order, the committee found that Garland had repeatedly failed to produce the documents, records and materials he had subpoenaed.
In the weeks following the release of Special Counsel Robert K. Hur’s report on February 5, 2024, the three House committees conducted an impeachment inquiry to determine whether to develop articles of impeachment against President Joseph R. Biden and contacted the Justice Department To achieve this a confined number of documents and records related to the report. After the Department refused to provide relevant documents and records to the Committees, the Committee on the Judiciary (“Judiciary Committee”) and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability (“Oversight Committee”) issued identical subpoenas on February 27, 2024 Attorney General Merrick B. Garland requested the compelling production of four specific categories of documents and recordings, including audio and video recordings of Special Counsel Hur’s interviews with President Biden and his ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer. The Judiciary Committee subpoenaed these materials for several reasons – including to determine whether there are sufficient grounds for drafting articles of impeachment against President Biden for consideration by the full House of Representatives and to determine whether legislation codifying the procedures governing the special counsel’s investigations of the Ministry are required or strengthening the Ministry’s commitment to impartial justice. So far, the department has refused to produce the audio recordings, although it has not invoked privilege to justify failing to comply with the subpoena.
The resolution says that the Justice Department, under Garland, has sent only five letters from President Joe Biden’s administration and little else in the two months since the official requests and subpoenas were sent out.
The Department has only five letters from the White House and President Biden’s personal counsel to the Department, one letter from the Department to the White House and President Biden’s personal counsel, redacted transcripts of Special Counsel Hur’s two interviews with President Biden, and redacted transcripts of the special investigator. Discuss Hur’s two interviews with Zwonitzer. In addition, the ministry has made two confidential documents available to the committees in camera.
The committee found that at no time did Garland invoke any constitutional or statutory privilege to withhold documents and/or cooperate with a lawful subpoena and recommended impeachment.
This is breaking news. Details will be added as they become available.
