House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) issued a new joint letter on Monday threatening to hold U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt if the Department of Justice (DOJ) did not turn over investigative materials stemming from the Special Counsel investigation into President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents.
Mr. Jordan and Mr. Comer initially reached out to the DOJ on Feb. 12, requesting the department voluntarily turn over specific documents from Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into whether President Biden mishandled classified records throughout his political career.
Among the documents Republicans have sought are unredacted transcripts and audio recordings of Mr. Hur’s interviews with President Biden and the president’s ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer. Mr. Hur’s special counsel report states President Biden read aloud to his ghostwriter portions of classified diary entries “nearly verbatim” as they drafted his 2017 memoir, “Promise Me Dad.”
House Republicans had also sought records of communications between the Biden White House and the DOJ, including whether the Biden White House placed any limitations or scoping restrictions over Mr. Hur as he interviewed President Biden and Mr. Zwonitzer.
According to the Republican-led House committees, the DOJ initially responded to the Congressional records request on Feb. 16, informing the Republican-led House committees that the department was working to gather the requested materials but “offered no timeframe by which it expected to make any productions or, indeed, any commitment that it would produce all of the material requested.” By Feb. 27, the Republican-led committees issued a subpoena to legally compel the document production.
In their Monday letter, Mr. Comer and Mr. Jordan alleged the DOJ has since provided insufficient document production.
In particular, the Republican chairmen said the DOJ responded on March 7 to provide their committees with letters exchanged with President Biden’s legal counsel and an offer to review two classified documents in a closed-door setting. By March 12, just hours before Mr. Hur was set to testify before the House committees, the DOJ reportedly provided two redacted transcripts of Mr. Hur’s interviews with President Biden and failed to produce the corresponding audio recordings.
Mr. Comer and Mr. Jordan warned Mr. Garland that he must provide the requested documents by noon on April 8.
“If you fail to do so, the Committees will consider taking further action, such as the invocation of contempt of Congress proceedings,” their letter states.
In response to an NTD News request for comment, a DOJ spokesperson insisted the department has been “extraordinarily transparent” with the House committees about the special counsel investigation.
“The Attorney General released Mr. Hur’s report to Congress and made no redactions or changes, the Department provided documents to Congress including a copy of the President’s interview transcript, and Mr. Hur testified before Congress for more than five hours about his investigation,” the department spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “Given the Department’s ongoing and extensive cooperation, we hope they will reconsider this unnecessary escalation.”
House Republicans Dig Deeper on Special Counsel Findings
The subpoena and threat to hold Mr. Garland in contempt of Congress come as House Republicans continue to delve into Mr. Hur’s findings.
In his report, Mr. Hur said he had “uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen” but concluded the evidence “does not establish Mr. Biden’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
During his term as vice president, President Biden had floated the idea of hiring Mr. Zwonitzer as an official historian for the Office of the Vice President. White House attorney Cynthia Hogan authored a memorandum stating that Mr. Zwonitzer “will likely need a security clearance” before accepting such a job offer and advised that any discussions covering classified topics would have to “occur in a secure facility.”
According to the special counsel report, Mr. Zwonitzer never obtained a security clearance, nor was he familiar with the protocols for dealing with classified information while working on the book “Promise Me Dad.”
Mr. Hur said his “best case” for charging President Biden stems from a Feb. 16, 2017 interview Mr. Zwonitzer conducted with him at his Virginia rental home. During the interactions, just days after his term as vice president ended, President Biden allegedly remarked that he had “just found all the classified stuff downstairs.”
The special counsel report alleges Mr. Zwonitzer deleted some of his audio recordings of his interviews with President Biden. The report alleges these audio recordings were likely deleted at some point after the start of the special counsel investigation.
On Friday, Mr. Jordan subpoenaed Mr. Zwonitzer for records of contracts he’d entered into with President Biden for the ghostwriting work he did, as well as records of communications he may have had with members of the Biden administration about the special counsel investigation.
Democrats Claim Hur Exonerated Biden
Mr. Hur addressed questions about his investigative efforts during a joint House hearing on March 12. At this hearing, House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) described Mr. Hur’s findings as a “complete and total exoneration” of President Biden’s handling of classified documents. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) also described Mr. Hur’s report as a “complete exoneration.”
Mr. Hur pushed back on those “exoneration” remarks during an exchange in which Ms. Jayapal repeatedly talked over him. He said the word “exoneration” did not appear at any point in his report and insisted his task as the special counsel was to determine whether sufficient evidence existed that he could secure a conviction if he proceeded with charges.
Editors note: This article has been updated with a response from the DOJ.
