The Justice Department is refusing to provide House Republicans the audio recording of President Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur. House Republicans subpoenaed the Justice Department for the audio recording and threatened Attorney General Merrick Garland with contempt of congress proceedings if the DOJ decided not to hand over the audio of the Biden interview.
In a statement posted late Monday afternoon to X, Representative Comer called for the Biden administration to release the audio of the Hur conversation, saying, “It’s curious the Biden Administration is refusing to release the audio of President Biden’s interview with the Special Counsel after releasing the transcript. Why shouldn’t the American people be able to hear the actual audio of his answers.”
National Review reports The DOJ wrote a letter Monday to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R., Ohio.) and Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R., Ky.) explaining its decision not to turn over the audio recordings.
“Indeed, by the Committees’ own measure, the Department has met your stated informational needs. The Department has produced the two classified documents you requested, the transcripts of the Special Counsel Office interviews of the President and of Mark Zwonitzer that you requested, and the correspondence regarding the Special Counsel’s report that you requested,” wrote Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte, according to a copy of the letter obtained by National Review.
“The Department is concerned that the Committees’ particular focus on continuing to demand information that is cumulative of information we already gave you—what the President and Mr. Hur’s team said in the interview—indicates that the Committees’ interests may not be in receiving information in service of legitimate oversight or investigatory functions, but to serve political purposes that should have no role in the treatment of law enforcement files,” the letter adds.
Uriarte demands the committees do not actually need the audio recording and expressed concerns that turning over the audio could dissuade future witnesses from cooperating in similar investigations moving forward.
The DOJ is giving Republican lawmakers the transcript of Hur’s interview with ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer, an individual mentioned throughout Hur’s final report on Biden’s handling of classified information. Jordan subpoenaed Zwonitzer in March for the ghostwriter’s interviews with Joe Biden for his book Promise Me, Dad published after his vice presidency, according to National Review.
Zwonitzer eventually cooperated with Hur’s investigation and turned over the relevant files in his possession after he allegedly deleted audio files following Hur’s appointment as special counsel.
Hur’s investigation found evidence Biden “willfully” retained classified information, but the special counsel did not recommend criminal charges against the sitting president. The observations Hur made about Biden’s advanced age brought fresh scrutiny to Biden, 82, and his mental acuities.
Additionally, Hur testified last month before the Judiciary Committee and defended his remarks on Biden’s advanced age as being necessary to determine whether Biden should face criminal charges. The White House requested Hur soften the report’s language on Biden’s age before it was published, Hur confirmed. The Biden administration also sought to influence media coverage of Hur’s report and its findings on how Biden handled classified information.
