The Department of Justice (DOJ) has declined to prosecute Attorney General Merrick Garland after he was held in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas relating to a House investigation into President Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified information. In a letter addressed to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Carlos Felipe Uriarte, the Assistant Attorney General, explained that President Biden had “asserted executive privilege and directed” Garland not to “release materials” subpoenaed by the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and the House Judiciary Committee in February.
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted 216 to 207 to hold Garland in contempt of Congress for not complying with subpoenas for “records, including transcripts, notes, video, and audio files,” relating to Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation. The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability issued a press release stating that the materials were being sought in connection with the alleged willful mishandling of classified information by President Biden.
The DOJ explained that it had produced all requested materials responsive to the subpoenas, including Special Counsel Hur’s report without any additional redactions and facilitated his congressional testimony. The Department’s letter noted that the “longstanding position” of the Department is not to prosecute an official for contempt of Congress when a presidential assertion of executive privilege has been made.
In 2019, then-Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross were held in contempt of Congress after refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena. The response from the DOJ regarding Garland being held in contempt of Congress comes as former White House chief strategist for former President Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, had been ordered to report to prison on July 1 for a four-month sentence after he defied a subpoena from the Democrat-run House committee that was investigating the riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.