Attorney General Merrick Garland REJECTS claims Biden is an 'elderly man with ... trends now
Attorney General Merrick Garland insisted Joe Biden has no cognitive impairment as he was forced to defend the president on Capitol Hill after a bombshell report describing him as 'elderly' and 'forgetful.'
'The president has no impairment,' Garland said as Republicans hounded him over former special counsel Robert Hur's report.
'I have watched him expertly guide meetings of staff and cabinet members on issues of foreign affairs and military strategy and policy in the incredibly complex world in which we now face.'
Garland went on: 'I don't know how many ways I can say this, I have complete confidence in the president.'
That puts Garland at odds with the special counsel he appointed, who stepped down from the Justice Department shortly after releasing the report where he explained why he did not charge the president for mishandling classified documents.
Republicans once again demanded Garland hand over audio of Hur's interview with Biden.
While the DOJ has handed over transcripts of Hur's interviews with Biden that led him to conclude the president is 'elderly' and 'well-meaning' but has a 'poor memory,' Republicans are unsatisfied. They insist they need audio of the interview too.
They subpoenaed transcripts, notes, audio and video files largely related to Hur's interview - giving Attorney General Merrick Garland until Monday at noon and threatening him with contempt if he does not comply.
The DOJ said in a new letter to GOP committee chairmen that the department had already been 'extraordinarily' accommodating in giving up the Biden transcript.
They said releasing audio as well might make it harder for prosecutors to secure recorded interviews in the future, with witnesses knowing they could be blasted out into the public.
'The Committees have already received the extraordinary accommodation of the transcripts, which gives you the information you say you need,' the letter, written by assistant attorney general Carlos Uriarte, read.
'To go further by producing the audio files would compound the likelihood that future prosecutors will be unable to secure this level of cooperation. They might have a harder time obtaining consent to an interview at all. It is clearly not in the public interest to render such cooperation with prosecutors and investigators less likely in the future.'
The letter said that the Oversight and Judiciary committees have not identified any valid reasoning for needing the audio of the interview in addition to transcripts.
It said the DOJ had 'met or exceeded the Committees' informational needs' stated in the subpoenas.
'Our efforts at cooperation prove that we are, and continue to be, willing to do our part to show the American people that the officials who serve them can work together productively in the public interest while avoiding unnecessary conflict,' Uriarte went on.
Oversight Chairman James Comer clapped back in a statement: 'The Biden Administration does not get to determine what Congress needs and does not need for its oversight of the executive branch.'
'It’s curious the Biden Administration is refusing to release the audio of President Biden’s interview with the Special Counsel after releasing the transcript. Why shouldn't the American people be able to hear the
