Garland’s deadline to produce recordings of Biden interview in Hur case looms, risking contempt of Congress

Monday is the deadline for Attorney General Merrick Garland to produce subpoenaed audio recordings of former Special Counsel Robert Hur’s interview with President Biden to House Republicans or risk being held in contempt of Congress. 

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, have threatened to hold Garland in contempt of Congress over the Justice Department’s failure to produce the records. Last month, they set Monday, April 8, as the deadline for Garland to comply. 

“The Department continues to withhold additional material responsive to the Committees’ subpoenas – specifically the audio recordings of Special Counsel Hur’s interviews with President Biden and the transcript and audio recordings of Special Counsel Hur’s interviews with Mr. Zwonitzer,” Comer and Jordan wrote. “The February 27 subpoenas create a legal obligation on you to produce this material.” 

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US Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks during a meeting with US Attorney Damian Williams, not pictured, as well as federal, state, and local law enforcement leaders, in New York City on November 27, 2023. (EDUARDO MUNOZ/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

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Comer and Jordan said they expect Garland “to produce all responsive materials no later than 12:00 p.m. on April 8, 2024.” 

“If you fail to do so, the Committees will consider taking further action, such as the invocation of contempt of Congress proceedings,” they wrote. 

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., left, and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, right. (Getty Images)

Comer and Jordan subpoenaed the Justice Department for a transcript of Hur’s interview with Biden and audio recordings. 

Just hours before Hur was scheduled to testify publicly earlier this month, the DOJ produced to the committees two redacted transcripts of Hur’s interviews with Biden. 

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The Justice Department did not, however, produce the audio recordings of the interviews. Comer and Jordan said the committees “specifically prioritized” the production of those audio recordings. 

Meanwhile, Comer and Jordan subpoenaed Mark Zwonitzer last month. The subpoena compels Zwonitzer to turn over all documents and communications with Biden or his staff related to his ghostwriting work on Biden’s memoirs “Promise Me, Dad” and “Promises to Keep,” including emails, call logs and more. 

The subpoena also compels Zwonitzer to turn over all contracts and agreements related to his work, along with audio recordings of interviews and conversations with Biden and transcripts of those conversations and interviews. 

Special Counsel Robert Hur testified to Congress about his investigation into President Joe Biden’s classified documents scandal. (Getty Images)

The president has claimed that he did not share classified information with Zwonitzer, but Hur’s report, released last month, states that Biden would “read from his notebooks nearly verbatim, sometimes for an hour or more at a time,” and “at least three times President Biden read classified notes from national security meetings” to Zwonitzer “nearly verbatim.” 

Hur testified earlier this month that Zwonitzer “slid” files of audio recordings and transcripts of conversations with Biden “into his recycle bin on his computer” upon learning that a special counsel had been appointed to investigate the matter.

Jordan, during Hur’s public hearing earlier this month, asked whether the ghostwriter tried to “destroy the evidence.” 

“Correct,” Hur testified. 

Hur, who released his report to the public in February after months of investigating, did not recommend criminal charges against Biden for mishandling and retaining classified documents — and stated that he wouldn’t bring charges against Biden even if he were not in the Oval Office. 

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Those records included classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan and other countries, among other records related to national security and foreign policy, which Hur said implicated “sensitive intelligence sources and methods.” 

Hur, in his report, described Biden as a “sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory” – a description that has raised significant concerns for Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign.

Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment.