'The Transcript And Recordings Are Not Identical': Hageman Demands Release Of Biden-Hur Audio

6 months ago

At a House Republican press briefing, Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) promoted an inherent contempt resolution against Attorney General Merrick Garland.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you and good morning.

00:04I am co-sponsoring this inherent contempt resolution because it is the job of Congress

00:10to hold the Attorney General accountable for his actions of refusing to comply with a congressional

00:16subpoena when the Department of Justice refuses to do so.

00:20Two weeks ago, the full House of Representatives voted to hold Merrick Garland in criminal

00:25contempt of Congress.

00:27According to the Congressional Research Service, the recipient of a duly issued and valid

00:32congressional subpoena has a legal obligation to comply absent a valid and overriding privilege

00:38or other legal justification.

00:40But the subpoena is only as effective as the means by which it may be enforced.

00:45Without a process by which Congress can coerce compliance or detour noncompliance, the subpoena

00:51would be reduced to a formalized request rather than a constitutionally based demand

00:56for information.

00:58While the DOJ may claim that it has a valid and overriding privilege due to President

01:02Biden exerting executive privilege over the audio and video recordings in question, there

01:09are no grounds for withholding the recordings from his interview with Special Counsel Hur

01:14considering that the Department of Justice provided the transcript months ago.

01:19The moment that the transcript was released, the right to exert executive privilege was waived.

01:25The tapes are important for several reasons.

01:28First, transcripts have admittedly been altered by this White House for previous speeches

01:32and events.

01:33So having the transcript verified as accurate by the recordings would be very useful.

01:38Second, while transcripts can show us what was said, they do not reveal how something

01:44was said, the time it took to say it, or the manner of speaking.

01:48The Department of Justice has already acknowledged that the transcript and the recordings are

01:52not identical, and we must be allowed to know to what extent they are different.

01:57As President Biden, congressional Democrats, and even Merrick Garland himself like to proclaim,

02:03no one is above the law.

02:05The executive branch has grown too powerful and has continually encroached upon the duties

02:11of the legislative branch.

02:13This particular incident goes to the very heart of the investigative and oversight functions

02:18of Congress.

02:19The resolution offered by Representative Loon is simply the enforcement mechanism constitutionally

02:24required when the executive branch refuses to comply with explicit orders directed from

02:30the legislative branch.

'The Transcript And Recordings Are Not Identical': Hageman Demands Release Of Biden-Hur Audio

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