Justice Department rebuffs Republican requests for audio of Biden interview with special counsel

The Department of Justice doubled down on its decision to not release the audio files of President Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur to House Republicans, stating that Republicans have not established a legitimate legislative purpose for demanding these recordings, in a new letter obtained by CNN.

The Department of Justice doubled down on its decision to not release the audio files of President Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur to House Republicans, stating that Republicans have not established a legitimate legislative purpose for demanding these recordings, in a new letter obtained by CNN. The letter from DOJ Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte to House Oversight Chair James Comer and House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan sets up a showdown with Republicans who have continued to threaten holding Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for not releasing the audio recordings of the interviews Hur conducted with the president and his ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer. The DOJ’s refusal to turn over the audio comes as Republicans find their impeachment inquiry into the president stalled now that the prospects of the investigation ending in impeachment are increasingly unlikely. Without the votes in their narrow majority or evidence of an impeachable offense, Republicans are now struggling with how to end their probe. Uriarte argued that DOJ has extensively cooperated with the committees, noting that the department has already turned over the transcripts of the interviews Biden and his ghostwriter had with the special counsel, which would address Republican allegations made about the president as part of their impeachment inquiry. “It seems that the more information you receive, the less satisfied you are, and the less justification you have for contempt, the more you rush towards it,” Uriarte wrote. CNN has reached out to spokespeople for Comer and Jordan.