Biden’s Department of Justice Says AG Merrick Garland Immune from Prosecution for Contempt of Congre

[mystery-ak]

Bradley Jaye 12 Jun 2024

President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice issued a memo Wednesday declaring that Attorney General Merrick Garland is protected from prosecution for contempt of Congress because of Biden’s use of executive privilege.

The memo’s release conveniently came hours before the House of Representatives took the long-anticipated step of voting to hold Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with Congressional subpoenas for records related to Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation of President Joe Biden’s willful mishandling of classified information.

Republicans wanted the audio tapes of Hur’s interview with Biden, insisting written transcripts provided by Garland were insufficient after Hur revealed that Biden experienced mental lapses and “poor memory” when interviewed.

The House Committees on Oversight and Accountability and Judiciary issued subpoenas to Garland on February 27, 2024 for records including audio recordings Garland insisted on withholding.

Despite the subpoenas, Garland refused to turn over the records.

The Biden administration continued working to blunt Congress’s constitutional oversight power. Before the Judiciary and Oversight Committees marked up their contempt resolutions on May 16, Biden asserted executive privilege over the recordings.

Weeks later, the House voted 216 to 207 to hold Garland in contempt of Congress, with only one Republican opposing the resolution.

Given the department’s memo, Biden administration prosecutors are almost certain to ignore the contempt of Congress, which is essentially a recommendation to U.S. attorneys.

“Because the committees have the transcripts of the special counsel’s interviews, the needs the committees have articulated for the recordings are plainly insufficient to overcome a privilege claim grounded in these important separation of powers concerns,” the memo asserts.

Republicans didn’t buy it.

more
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/06/12/bidens-department-of-justice-says-ag-merrick-garland-immune-from-prosecution-for-contempt-of-congress/

[mystery-ak]

Ah...I don't think so..that's why we have oversight in Congress....nice try though.

[libertybele]

Ah...I don't think so..that's why we have oversight in Congress....nice try though.

If the Justice Department decides to take up the contempt resolution and pursue a case, violations can be punishable by a fine of up $100,000 and imprisonment “for not less than one month nor more than twelve months,” according to the CRS.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but he's head of the DOJ -- I doubt that the DOJ is going to take up charges against him.  Just as was the case when Holder was found to be in contempt.

I hope some how some way they throw him in a jail cell or at the very least fine him.

The Obama administration not only was notorious for overreach but also ignored the rule of law and went ahead and did what they wanted anyways.  The DEMS pretty much made the GOP irrelevant and incompetent.

[Elderberry]

Yahoo News by Rebecca Beitsch 6/12/2024

An internal Justice Department (DOJ) memo argued Attorney General Merrick Garland would be protected from prosecution for contempt of Congress given President Biden’s assertion of executive privilege over audio tapes Republicans have sought by subpoena.

The 57-page memo from the department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), obtained by The Hill, lays out the case for Garland’s refusal to turn over the audio of Biden’s conversation with special counsel Robert Hur. The GOP already has a transcript of the interview.

The OLC, which operates as a legal adviser for the department, wrote that no administration official has been prosecuted for failing to comply with a subpoena when the president has claimed executive privilege.

“For nearly seven decades and across presidential administrations of both parties, the Executive Branch has taken the position that the criminal contempt of Congress statute … does not apply to Executive Branch officials who do not comply with a congressional subpoena based on a presidential assertion of executive privilege,” according to the memo.

“Consistent with this longstanding position, no U.S. Attorney has pursued criminal contempt charges against an Executive Branch official asserting the President’s claim of executive privilege.”

More: https://www.yahoo.com/news/doj-memo-says-garland-cannot-163112514.html

[mystery-ak]

Garland in contempt: ‘If the DOJ has not indicted him by June 25, he will be forced to produce recordings or be held by Sergeant at Arms’
June 13, 2024

https://twitter.com/RepLuna/status/1800996212218138997

more
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2024/06/13/garland-in-contempt-if-the-doj-has-not-indicted-him-by-june-25-he-will-be-forced-to-produce-recordings-or-be-held-by-sergeant-at-arms-1465464/

[rustynail]

She might but they won't.

[libertybele]

The current sergeant of arms is William McFarland. So .... he would be responsible for holding Garland accountable? We'll see what happens.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_McFarland_(security_officer)

[DefiantMassRINO]

We are a nation of laws ... yadda yadda yadda
No one is above the law ... yadda yadda yadda
Nothing to see here; move along ... yadda yadda yadda