Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said the House Judiciary Committee plans to file a lawsuit to force Attorney General Merrick Garland to turn over audio recordings of President Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur.
The suit would be the latest effort to secure the tapes after the Justice Department informed Congress it would not be bringing criminal charges against Garland despite a House vote to hold him in contempt.
“We are going to file suit next week against the Department of Justice to enforce that subpoena. We will go to district court here in D.C., which is the appropriate venue, and we will fight vigorously to get it,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday.
Lawmakers already have a transcript of Biden’s conversation with Hur, but Republicans argue hearing the tapes will provide more context about the special counsel’s commentary on the president’s memory.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) has pledged to imminently force a vote on a resolution that would allow the House sergeant-at-arms to detain Garland — a process allowed through such “inherent contempt” resolutions.
Johnson was noncommittal on Luna’s motion, however, saying her plan was one of several options being considered “in the meanwhile,” adding, “but I don’t think anything’s been settled on as of yet.”
