DOJ Won’t Prosecute AG Merrick Garland for Withholding Biden–Hur Interview Audio

The Justice Department said Friday it will not prosecute Merrick Garland on contempt-of-Congress charges, two days after House Republicans voted to hold the attorney general in contempt for refusing to turn over the audio from President Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur.

In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday, the DOJ said the refusal to provide the audio “did not constitute a crime.”

House lawmakers voted 216–207 on the Garland contempt resolution on Wednesday, with one Republican representative, Dave Joyce of Ohio, joining Democrats in voting against it. Eight members did not vote on the measure. Garland is the third attorney general in American history to be held in contempt.