The DOJ stated in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson that it has a “longstanding” position of not prosecuting executive branch officials who withhold information from Congress that is subject to executive privilege.
The Department of Justice on Friday said that it would not prosecute Attorney General Merrick Garland after the House voted to hold him in contempt of Congress after he refused to comply with a congressional subpoena seeking the audio of Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur in the classified documents investigation.
The DOJ stated in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson that it has a "longstanding" position of not prosecuting executive branch officials who withhold information from Congress that is subject to executive privilege.
According to CNN, the letter from the department’s top congressional liaison, said, "Consistent with this longstanding position and uniform practice, the Department has determined that the responses by Attorney General Garland to the subpoenas issued by the Committees did not constitute a crime, and accordingly the Department will not bring the congressional contempt citation before a grand jury or take any other action to prosecute the Attorney General."
The decision comes after an internal DOJ memo was revealed, stating that "Consistent with this longstanding position, no US Attorney has pursued criminal contempt charges against an Executive Branch official asserting the President’s claim of executive privilege."
“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 declared.
This is a breaking story. Please refresh the page for updates.
Libby’s Desk
Commentary and must-reads from Libby’s desk, straight to your inbox.
TPM Newsletter
The Post Millennial’s top stories, delivered to your inbox.
