House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) lost it after DOJ rejected his request for the Biden/Hur interview audio.
]t is critical for the Department to understand why the Committees believe they have a remaining need for the information in these files,” Assistant Attorney General Carolos Uriarte wrote in his letter.
He wrote the Justice Department had “worked diligently” to respond to congressional requests and argued that as a result of those efforts, the committees had already “received an extraordinary amount of information—and quickly.”
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Uriarte said the Justice Department was “concerned” that Jordan and Comer’s requests for the audio version of the interview — despite having already reviewed a transcript — was meant to “serve political purposes that should have no role in the treatment of law enforcement files.”
Releasing the audio files to Congress, he wrote Monday, risked “chilling” future investigations if witnesses feared that audio versions of their interviews might be released.
The DOJ response caused Comer to blow a gasket and basically accuse President Biden of a cover-up:
🚨STATEMENT🚨
The Biden Administration does not get to determine what Congress needs and does not need for its oversight of the executive branch.
The American people deserve to hear the actual audio of President Biden’s answers to Special Counsel Hur.
Full statement👇 pic.twitter.com/voeewim2Pz
— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) April 8, 2024
DOJ was correct. Jordan and Comer have no legislative purpose for requesting the audio. The Oversight and Judiciary Committees already have the transcripts and the testimony of Robert Hur before the House Judiciary Committee. There is less than zero reason for the DOJ to turn over the audio to Jordan and Comer.
The audio doesn’t fit with scope of the Biden impeachment investigation, and it would certainly make other witnesses less trusting of federal law enforcement if they thought that their interview would be turned over to Congress and broadcast to the entire world.
Biden impeachment is dead, and Comer and Jordan got called out by the DOJ for trying to abuse their oversight power for a political stunt.
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