President Biden’s assertion of executive privilege to avoid releasing audio recordings of his meeting with special counsel Robert Hur has raised eyebrows among some legal experts.
White House revealed on Thursday Biden asserted executive privilege over the audio recordings at the request of Attorney General Merrick Garland. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in her press conference that Garland’s suggestion 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.
But some experts say using executive privilege to protect recordings is “very problematic” and “strictly a political decision.”
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House Republicans have demanded that Attorney General Merrick Garland release the tapes, threatening to hold him in contempt of Congress if he doesn’t comply. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“Executive privilege respects the constitutional separation of powers and allows the president to have candid conversations with his top advisers to make judgments and reach decisions,” said John Malcolm, a former federal prosecutor at the Heritage Foundation. “The aim is to…” he told Fox News Digital. .
“[It] “It is not designed to hide information that could prove embarrassing to the president, other government officials or the operation,” Malcolm said, noting that the transcript of the entire interview has already been made public.
“Therefore, there is no national security or deliberative process reason not to release the recording of the interview. The only reason President Biden would want to prevent the recording from being released is because he is concerned about the public’s reaction to his behavior. “And I want you to remember that when answering Special Counsel Ho’s questions, especially since serious questions have already been raised about his mental strength and ability to effectively serve as president.” said.
“If he has some other valid reason for withholding that information, it’s hard to see what it is, but he needs to say what it is,” Malcolm added. .
Mr. Heo led an investigation into Mr. Biden’s handling of classified documents after he left office as vice president during the Obama administration. In February, Mr. Xu announced that he would not recommend criminal charges against Mr. Biden for possessing classified materials once he becomes vice president, calling him a “sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.”
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The Justice Department notified House Republicans investigating President Biden on Thursday that the executive branch will not turn over materials subpoenaed in Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation. (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.
House Republicans demanded Garland release the interview tape and threatened to hold him in contempt of Congress if he did not comply.
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.
“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.
“This is a series of unprecedented and frankly baseless attacks on the Department of Justice,” Garland told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday. This effort to take advantage is nothing short of fraudulent.” The way they threaten and defund our investigations and contribute to an atmosphere that puts our investigators and prosecutors at risk, these are wrong, and the only thing I can do is continue to do what’s right. That’s it. I will protect this building and the people in it. ”
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The House Judiciary and Oversight Committees introduced a resolution Thursday night that would hold Garland in contempt despite his claims of presidential privilege. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) will decide whether to bring the resolution to the full House for a vote.
“It certainly appears that the Biden administration is pushing Attorney General Garland to be the public face of this weak presidential privilege claim, and so President Biden is also pushing him from the White House,” said John Shue, a former senior official in both Bush administrations. “Senior staff are also making sure that there are no problems.” That’s necessary so that the White House press secretary can avoid answering questions about it and simply refer them to the Justice Department. ”
He said executive privilege “does not include recordings of interviews by voluntary representatives of the president, especially those where the president waives privilege and releases recordings that preclude national security concerns.” No,” he said.
“Minutes are not always accurate, so it is not unreasonable for Congress to request these recordings. This White House has previously reported that the president was unable to record official proceedings when he mistakenly read teleprompter cues. “I’ve edited records,” Schuh said. “Transcripts also typically do not reflect verbal intonation or emotional expressions such as anger, sarcasm, or humor,” he added.
In February, Ho announced that he would not recommend criminal charges against President Biden, who retired as vice president under the Obama administration, for possessing classified materials. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
Former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy said in an interview on Fox News Digital that Biden’s privilege claims are “crude politics.”
“They’re trying to legally cover up what is strictly a political decision. That tape would be very embarrassing for Biden. So Biden is blocking it, and they’re giving it a legal cover.” “They’re trying to wrap a ribbon around it, but there’s no legal reason to do so because they withheld the recording,” McCarthy said, adding that if Republicans took the issue to court, they might not prevail on privilege claims. He added that it is expensive.
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“What Biden has clearly decided is that it would be far more damaging to release the tapes than it would be to suffer the damage that he’s getting by withholding them,” McCarthy said.
“It’s just crude politics, nothing more,” he said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and the Department of Justice for comment.
