House Republicans to move to hold AG Garland in contempt

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Republicans in Washington have a well-earned reputation of empty gestures and hearings that never seem to go anywhere, and their latest offering along these lines is to apparently hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt — not that a GOP administration would ever dare enforce such a finding.

The House Judiciary Committee is set to hold Garland in contempt of Congress, not for weaponizing the Justice Department against President Biden’s political enemies, but for refusing requests to provide audio recordings of Biden’s interview with the special counsel who investigated his handling of classified documents, the Washington Examiner reported.

(To be fair, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent a letter to Garland last week demanding documents and information about the DOJ’s coordination with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s “politicized prosecution” of former President Donald Trump, noting that Matthew Colangelo, a former senior DOJ official, is a lead prosecutor for Bragg.)

In a bombshell report announcing that no charges would be filed, special counsel Robert Hur described Biden as an “elderly man with a poor memory” who was unable to remember key dates, including when he served as vice president or when his son died.

A “markup” for the contempt resolution will be held on May 16, with the GOP-controlled committee expected to refer the issue to the full House for a vote.

Garland’s DOJ has denied repeated requests by House Republicans for the audio of Biden’s interview, accusing them of looking to “serve political purposes that should have no role in the treatment of law enforcement files.”

A full transcript was provided to the House committees conducting the impeachment inquiry into Biden, but audio can be far more damning.

Should Garland be held in contempt, don’t expect him to be jailed like Peter Navarro, an ex-White House aide to former President Donald Trump, was — Navarro was the first former White House official in U.S. history to be imprisoned for contempt of Congress conviction.

“When the House approves contempt, a criminal referral is made to the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., which then must weigh whether to move forward with prosecution. As was the case with Holder and Barr, who were not prosecuted by their own departments, it is unlikely U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves would pursue Garland,” the Examiner noted.

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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.