The Trump campaign Thursday accused President Joe Biden of hypocrisy with executive privilege after refusing to release audio of his interview with special counsel Robert Hur.
Biden asserted executive privilege over the audio of his Hur interview that is at the center of a Republican effort to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress, the Justice Department told lawmakers earlier in the day.
“Crooked Joe Biden and his feeble administration have irretrievably politicized the key constitutional tenet of executive privilege, denying it to their political opponents while aggressively trying to use it to run political cover for Crooked Joe,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung wrote in a statement.
Biden’s DOJ has denied former President Donald Trump claim of executive privilege in his court cases that involve classified documents and the seeking of investigations into 2020 election integrity.
The Supreme Court heard arguments in April over Trump’s claim of immunity. A ruling is expected no later than the end of June.
The House Oversight and Accountability and the Judiciary Committees are each expected to hold a hearing to recommend the full House refer Garland to the DOJ for the contempt charges over the department’s refusal to hand over the audio.
Oversight and Accountability Chair James Comer, R-Ky., said Biden’s refusal to release the audio indicated “a five-alarm fire at the White House.”
“Clearly President Biden and his advisers fear releasing the audio recordings of his interview because it will again reaffirm to the American people that President Biden’s mental state is in decline,” Comer wrote in a statement.
“The House Oversight Committee requires these recordings as part of our investigation of President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents. The White House is asserting executive privilege over the recordings, but it has already waived privilege by releasing the transcript of the interview.
“Today’s Hail Mary from the White House changes nothing for our committee. The House Oversight Committee will move forward with its markup of a resolution and report recommending to the House of Representatives that Attorney General Garland be held in contempt of Congress for defying a lawful subpoena.”
The Judiciary Committee, citing a comment from Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., posted on X: “There are three standards of justice under the Biden Administration. One for Donald Trump. One for the rest of us. And one for Democrats.”
The transcript of the Hur interview, part of the special counsel’s probe into the mishandling of classified documents, showed the 81-year-old Biden struggling to recall some dates and occasionally confusing some details — something longtime aides say he has done for years in both public and private.
