Criminal Charges For Team Biden – They Want This Audio Tape Hidden At ALL Costs

In the event that the Justice Department decides not to file criminal charges against its head, Republicans are preparing backup plans in case the House votes on two contempt resolutions against AG Merrick Garland as early as next week.

Thursday’s actions by the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees find Garland in contempt of Congress for failing to produce the audio tape of President Joe Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur, even though he has provided the text of the exchange. The House floor will now fully vote on the bills when the legislature reconvenes on Tuesday.

The House GOP leadership will decide when to schedule the vote on the measure when it comes to the floor. The Washington Examiner contacted Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) for an interview.

Republicans allege that Biden unfairly benefited from the overseas business ventures of his family members, and the contempt resolution against Garland is a part of this broader investigation into Biden’s potential impeachment. They have not offered much, if any, proof of their claims thus far.

The next challenge for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is to manage a one-seat majority and a tiny number of hard-line conservatives who have resisted his leadership since he grabbed the gavel. The contempt resolution is up for vote. Most Republicans and House Democrats joined together to table a resolution to remove Johnson, which he narrowly avoided.

Even with a one-seat majority, Johnson faces a larger numerical challenge: a huge percentage of his fellow Republicans are either centrist Republicans running in tough primaries and elections this November, or they represent Biden districts. Republicans are already likely to vote against the impeachment, a legislator told Axios in February.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., will get a criminal referral if the resolutions manage to pass the whole House. They will then have to decide whether to pursue prosecution or not. Garland, the DOJ director, is unlikely to face any criminal charges as a result, though.

The president is claiming executive privilege over the recordings, the Justice Department announced Thursday morning, ahead of Thursday’s contempt markups. This puts another obstacle in the way of House Republicans’ ongoing dispute with the DOJ regarding whether Congress should get access to the audio recording.

There is very little likelihood that Garland will face criminal charges because of Biden’s claim of executive privilege. But if the DOJ decides not to proceed with the contempt resolutions, House Republicans have a few other options.

One option is to let the courts determine whether the president can successfully assert executive privilege. Chairman of the Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan (R-OH) stated to Politico that he believes a legal battle is “highly likely.”

While some legal experts contend that because Biden waived privilege with the transcript, it also applies to the audio tape, several Republicans have condemned the president’s claim of executive privilege as a political ploy. Republican legal counsel is dubious of the president’s assertion, according to Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), who expressed this sentiment to Politico.

Comer stated, “Hopefully we will find out if it will hold up in court very soon.”