After claiming executive privilege Thursday morning over his audio interviews with former Special Counsel Robert Hur, which expose a declining mental state, President Joe Biden set himself up for a fight with Congress and the House Oversight Committee.
“It’s a five-alarm fire at the White House. Clearly President Biden and his advisors 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. The House Oversight Committee requires these recordings as part of our investigation of President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents," Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer released in a statement. "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.”
.@SpeakerJohnson: "President Biden has invoked executive privilege to prevent the American people from hearing the audio recordings of his testimony with Special Council Robert Hur...President Biden is using his authority to defend himself politically." pic.twitter.com/j8Do5GKW8Q
— CSPAN (@cspan) May 16, 2024
But it isn't just lawmakers who want the tapes. The media does too. ABC News, AP, Bloomberg, CBS, CNN, WSJ, NBC, Reuters, Washington Post and Univision all have Freedom of Information Act requests pending.
BREAKING: Biden asserts executive privilege to block release to Hill of audio of his own interviews with special counsel in classified docs probe. GOP will clobber him for covering up evidence of his aging. Raises some thorny #FOIA issues, too.https://t.co/9ByHBDJMzV
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) May 16, 2024
It’s worth noting that there are multiple news outlets suing the DOJ under FOIA to get ahold of the audio from President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Hur.
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) May 16, 2024
Including:
ABC
AP
Bloomberg
CBS
CNN
WSJ
NBC
Reuters
Washington Post
Univision pic.twitter.com/tPDR0PcTCa
