Justice Department Doubles Down on Refusal to Give House Republicans Audio of Special Counsel’s Biden Interview

The Justice Department is emphatically refusing to provide House Republicans audio recordings of President Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur during his investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents.

The DOJ wrote a detailed letter Thursday to Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R., Ohio.) and Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R., Ky.) explaining its continued refusal to give Republican lawmakers the audio tapes despite being subpoenaed to do so.

“We have repeatedly invited the Committees to identify how these audio recordings from law enforcement files would serve the purposes for which you say you want them,” wrote Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte in a letter obtained by National Review.

“We have also repeatedly urged the Committees to avoid unnecessary conflict and to respect the public interest in the Department’s ability to conduct effective investigations by protecting sensitive law enforcement files. The Committees have repeatedly failed to explain your needs or to demonstrate respect for the Department’s law enforcement functions,” he continued.

“Despite our many requests, the Committees have not articulated a legitimate congressional need to obtain audio recordings from Mr. Hur’s investigation, let alone one that outweighs the Department’s strong interest in protecting the confidentiality of law enforcement files.”

Earlier this month, the Justice Department gave a similar justification for failing to turn over the audio recordings and suggested Republicans sought the audio for political ends rather than investigative purposes.

Hur’s roughly 400 page final report on the Biden investigation caused a stir because of the special counsel’s observations about Biden’s advanced age and diminishing mental faculties. Specifically, Hur noted Biden’s inability to recall the exact years he served as vice president and the year his late son Beau Biden passed away. President Biden held an angry press conference attempting to discredit Hur’s observations the night his final report came out, but the president proceeded to confuse the leaders of Egypt and Mexico in the middle of his remarks.

Transcripts released ahead of Hur’s testimony in March appeared to back up his account of Biden’s memory difficulties during the president’s lengthy two-day interview with Hur. Uriarte noted the Justice Department handed over transcripts of Hur’s interviews with Biden and his ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer alongside correspondence related to Hur’s report.

At the beginning of his testimony, Hur defended his observations on Biden’s age for being necessary to his determination that Biden should not face criminal charges despite “willfully” retaining classified information. Hur also testified about the White House’s unsuccessful effort to pressure him into softening his language on Biden’s age after he submitted a draft version of the report. In late March, Garland rebuked the criticism he received from liberals for refusing to edit Hur’s report before its publication.

“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?” Comer said in a statement on April 8.

Comer and Jordan have threatened to initiate contempt of congress proceedings against Attorney General Merrick Garland if the Justice Department does not turn over all the records in its possession from Hur’s year-long probe.