On Friday, Speaker Mike Johnson announced that the House plans to take its contempt of Congress case against Attorney General Merrick Garland to court, following the Justice Department’s (DOJ) refusal to initiate charges.
He criticized the DOJ’s decision, stating, “It is sadly predictable that the Biden administration’s Justice Department will not prosecute Garland for defying congressional subpoenas even though the department aggressively prosecuted Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro for the same thing.”
This statement highlighted what Johnson described as a “two-tiered system of justice” orchestrated by the Biden administration, as reported by The Associated Press.
Earlier that day, the DOJ concluded that Garland had not committed a crime by not complying with the requests from House Republicans, who sought audio of a conversation between special counsel Robert Hur and President Biden related to the investigation of the president’s classified documents.
According to CNN, Johnson indicated that he would be “certifying the contempt records to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia” and would move to “enforce the subpoena of Attorney General Garland in federal court.”
This development follows a recent vote by House Republicans to hold Garland in contempt after the DOJ declined to provide the requested audio. The Republicans already possess the transcript of the discussion, and the department confirmed that Biden did not address any topics pertinent to the GOP’s impeachment inquiry.
In a response issued after the House vote, Garland expressed his disappointment, stating it was “deeply disappointing” that congressional authority had been “turned into a partisan weapon.”
The DOJ’s ruling on Friday aligns with a memo from the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel, which asserted that Biden’s assertion of executive privilege regarding the tapes protects the attorney general from prosecution.
The department also mentioned its decision not to prosecute Attorney General Bill Barr, who faced contempt charges in 2019 after refusing to provide documents related to an investigation into Trump.
Additionally, the Justice Department opted not to prosecute former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who was also held in contempt for failing to cooperate with the House panel investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
In contrast, Navarro and Bannon were charged with contempt of Congress for ignoring subpoenas related to the January 6 investigation; Navarro has been imprisoned since March, while Bannon is expected to report to a federal prison in the coming weeks.
