As Twitchy reported earlier this month, former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison for defying subpoenas from the January 6 select committee. Bannon had been held in contempt of Congress … just like Eric Holder, Hunter Biden, and Merrick Garland.
However, The Hill reports that according to the Justice Department, Garland can't be prosecuted for defying a subpoena to release the Robert Hur recordings, which must be really damning if he'd choose contempt of Congress over releasing them. He's actually been held in contempt of Congress twice, once by the House Judiciary Committee and once by the entire House.
DOJ memo says Merrick Garland cannot be prosecuted for contempt over Biden-Hur audio https://t.co/m33Nymnaic
— The Hill (@thehill) June 12, 2024
The Hill reports:
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.
…
“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,” according to the memo.
“The audio recording will not reveal any information relevant to the committees’ stated needs that is not available in the transcripts.”
Then just release the audio recording, don't write a 57-page memo.
Actually, the White House has said the transcript has very "minor differences" from the recording, as they cleaned up all the "uh"s and "um"s and repeated "I"s and "and"s. Hur said a jury would look at President Joe Biden as an elderly man with a poor memory and fail to convict because he was "well-meaning." In other words, yes, he's guilty of willfully retaining classified documents, some dating back to his days as a senator.
So Garland wrote a memo that he couldn’t be prosecuted….? Got it
— SeldenGADawgs (@SeldenGADawgs) June 12, 2024
DOJ says DOJ can’t be held accountable. This self-policing is a farce. https://t.co/eXi8C9mSTc
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) June 12, 2024
Makes you wonder what a bureau does when it can't be held accountable. Scary.
— Ed Martin (@EagleEdMartin) June 13, 2024
Where are we when DOJ declares immunity from scrutiny or oversight?
— J. Scott Shipman (@jscottshipman) June 12, 2024
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats want to "rein in" the Supreme Court with legislation, but Congress doesn't have oversight over the Justice Department.
so, someone IS above the law after all.
— I Tried Didn't I (@LeastIDidThat) June 13, 2024
Same DOJ - we're prosecuting a former-POTUS for the same executive privilege we're claiming.
— Bill Barclay (@Battleaxe24) June 13, 2024
And you're not allowed to criticize DOJ either.
— Julie_FL (@JulesMcA1) June 12, 2024
True, the attacks and conspiracy theories are dangerous.
A Richmond VA jury of his peers will decide whether he’s guilty or not. If he is innocent then he should look forward to his day in court to prove his innocence.
— Voodoo Child (@voodooc87) June 12, 2024
Am I doing this right??
Wow! They've gone FULLY rogue.
— Farrel Vincent (@BigVTN) June 12, 2024
Submit that to a judge if you ever find yourself up on charges in court. “Your Honor, I have memo here that says I can’t be prosecuted”. See how that works out.
— Buksterlin (@andy_buksterlin) June 12, 2024
He wrote his own note?
— random nobody (@NicholasVela14) June 12, 2024
No one is above the law.
— Kate Johnson (@kaideejay) June 12, 2024
Except for the Attorney General, who knows better than the rest of us because he’s an expert and we are not.
Congress should vote for his arrest, tomorrow, if Garland doesn’t comply.
— Ginger (@GingerAmero) June 12, 2024
If the tapes match the transcript, what’s the big deal?
We’ve investigated ourselves and found there’s no way to move forward with a prosecution. Does it get any more corrupt? With this administration, there’s no end to their corruption.
— Bachlan Delta (@BachlanDelta) June 13, 2024
Oh, a DOJ memo... OK then...
— Durham Monk in Seclusion (@DurhamMonk) June 13, 2024
And the memo only argues that there's no precedent for it.
It's so great that norms have been restored: the president is openly defying the Supreme Court and the attorney general is exempting himself from prosecution after being held in contempt of Congress.
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