Republican Reveals Why He Voted Against Holding Merrick Garland in Contempt

Just one Republican strayed from the rest of his party after the House voted to hold U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland contempt of Congress for his refusal to turn over audio recordings of an interview involving President Joe Biden.

The interview in question was between Biden and former special counsel Robert Hur, who led the investigation into the president’s handling of classified documents that were located at his residence in Delaware and the Penn Biden Center office in Washington, D.C.

On Wednesday, 216 Republicans voted to hold Garland in contempt for refusing to provide the audio. Only one GOP member, Ohio Representative Dave Joyce, voted against the resolution, joining 206 Democrats who also voted no. One Republican and seven Democrats did not vote on the matter.

In Hur’s report on the investigation released in February, the special counsel said that Biden came off as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” during an interview in October 2023. Republicans had requested that the audio recordings of the interview be released to lawmakers, claiming that it was pivotal to their impeachment inquiry into the president. The DOJ has refused such requests, noting that a transcript of Biden and Hur’s interview have already been provided.

In a statement shared with Newsweek, Joyce pointed to his past work as a prosecutor at Geauga County in northeastern Ohio as why he could not “in good conscience” support the effort to charge Garland.

“As a former prosecutor, I cannot in good conscience support a resolution that would further politicize our judicial system to score political points,” Joyce said. “The American people expect Congress to work for them, solve policy problems, and prioritize good governance. Enough is enough.”

Garland said in a statement that the House’s vote against him was “deeply disappointing” and accused House Republicans of turning “a serious congressional authority into a partisan weapon.”

“Today’s vote disregards the constitutional separation of powers, the Justice Department’s need to protect its investigations, and the substantial amount of information we have provided to the Committees,” Garland said. “I will always stand up for this Department, its employees, and its vital mission to defend our democracy.”

This is a developing story. It will be updated as information becomes available