The White House announced Thursday that President Biden, at the request of Attorney General Merrick Garland, claimed executive privilege over audio and video recordings of his meeting with Special Counsel Robert Hur.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a news conference that Garland’s proposal was that “law enforcement files like this need to be protected.”
“And the president made the decision at the request of the attorney general,” Jean-Pierre told reporters. He directed any further questions to the White House Counsel’s Office.
The Justice Department on Thursday informed House Republicans investigating Mr. Biden that the executive branch would not subpoena material from the investigation into Mr. Xu.
Biden claims executive privilege over recordings of classified documents Probe
Joe Biden (right) arrives with U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland at the Medal of Valor Ceremony in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday, May 17, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“It has been the long-standing position of the executive branch of administrations of both parties that officials asserting claims of presidential executive privilege cannot be prosecuted for contempt of Congress,” Deputy Attorney General Carlos Uriarte wrote to Congressman Jim Jordan. It was sent. -Ohio James Comer, R-Ky., Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and Oversight and Accountability Committee, respectively.
Mr. Xu led the investigation. Biden’s handling of classified documents After stepping down as Vice President under the Obama administration. In February, Mr. Announced.
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Jean-Pierre said that at Garland’s request, Biden invoked executive privilege to record the meeting with special counsel Robert Hur. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
In his report, Mr. Xu said it would be “difficult” to convince a jury to convict Mr. Biden of intentional crimes because of his advanced age.
The findings sparked widespread outrage that Biden was, in effect, deemed too cognitively impaired to be charged with a crime but could still serve as president. President Trump, meanwhile, denounced the disparity in charges as a reflection of “our sick and corrupt two-tiered justice system.”
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Special Counsel Robert Hur (left) said in his report that Biden is a “sympathetic and well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.” (Getty Images)
Mr. Biden met with Mr. Xu for about five hours last year, during which he was heavily criticized for his handling of classified documents.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) accused the president of being “afraid” of releasing the tapes after Republicans learned that Biden had invoked executive privilege to protect his testimony. did.
“President Biden is clearly afraid that the people of this country, everyone, will hear these tapes,” Johnson said at a news conference. “They’re clearly confirming what the special counsel found, and it’s probably going to put a lot of alarm into the American people that the president is doing everything in his power to suppress their release.” Dew.”
Asked to respond by the chair, Mr. Jean-Pierre insisted that he had nothing to hide from the president because the transcript of his interview with Mr. Hugh had been public for months.
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“The records are already in circulation. They are already in circulation and available to the public,” she told reporters. “The public has the opportunity to hear directly from the president and read exactly what he said. The attorney general has made it clear that law enforcement files like this need to be protected. And that’s the decision that was made.”
Asked why the audio and video should be protected when the transcripts are already public, Jean-Pierre deferred to the attorney general and the president.
Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton, David Spunt and Brooke Singman contributed to this update.
