AG Merrick Garland held in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over Joe Biden audio tapes where he appeared 'elderly'

• e-mail

House Republicans voted to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress after he refused to hand over audio of President Biden's special counsel interview with Robert Hur. 

The resolution passed 216 to 207 and GOP Rep. Dave Joyce of Ohio was the lone Republican to vote against the resolution.

Garland is the third attorney general to be held in contempt for defying a congressional subpoena in history - following Bill Barr under President Trump and Eric Holder under President Obama. 

The contempt charge is a formal recommendation that Garland be prosecuted. He's likely to be shielded from legal repercussions since Biden has asserted executive privilege over the audio.

If the DOJ does take up the contempt resolution and charge Garland, consequences could include a fine of up $100,000 

After Congress held Trump aides Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon in contempt, both were sentenced to prison time. 

If the DOJ does take up the contempt resolution and charge Garland, consequences could include a fine of up $100,000 and imprisonment 'for not less than one month nor more than twelve months,' according to the Congressional Research Service. 

But the DOJ is highly unlikely to prosecute its own leader. 

The Office of Legal Counsel noted in May that no U.S. attorney has ever pursued contempt charges against an official asserting the president's claim of executive privilege.

Garland shot back after the vote: 'It is deeply disappointing that this House of Representatives has turned 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. I will always stand up for this Department, its employees, and its vital mission to defend our democracy.' 

Republican Rep. Dave Joyce said of his opposition: 'As a former prosecutor, I cannot in good conscience support a resolution that would further politicize our judicial system to score political points.'

'The American people expect Congress to work for them, solve policy problems, and prioritize good governance. Enough is enough.' 

The DOJ released written transcripts of the interview, but they said releasing audio might make it harder for prosecutors to secure recorded interviews in the future, with witnesses knowing it could be blasted out into the public.

However, Republicans have suggested the transcript of the interview could be inaccurate.

Biden has asserted executive privilege over the audio of Hur's interviews with himself and his book ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer to keep it out of GOP hands.

Garland had lashed out ahead of the contempt vote, saying last week that the DOJ has gone to 'extraordinary lengths' to provide the committee with information.

'We have gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure that a committees get responses to their legitimate requests, but this is not one,' Garland told reporters ahead of a hearing to advance his contempt charge. 

Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Ky., shot back: 'The White House is asserting privilege over the recordings, but it has already waived privilege by releasing the transcript of the interview. 

The Department of Justice also tore into Republican-led 'conspiratorial speculation' about coordination between the DOJ and Manhattan Attorney Alvin Bragg on the Trump prosecution. 

Carlos Uriarte, an assistant attorney general at Justice, wrote to Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan informing him the DOJ had conducted a search for any emails between leadership there and Bragg's office about an investigation into or prosecution of former President Donald Trump and did not find any. 

'The self-justifying 'perception' asserted by the Committee is completely baseless, but the Committee continues to traffic it widely,' Uriarte wrote.

 'As the Attorney General stated at his hearing, the conspiracy theory that the recent jury verdict in New York state court was somehow controlled by the Department is not only false, it is irresponsible.' 

Uriarte warned that Republicans' assertions could be putting DOJ officials at risk. 

'Indeed, accusations of wrongdoing made without—and in fact contrary to—evidence undermine confidence in the justice system and have contributed to increased threats of violence and attacks on career law enforcement officials and prosecutors. Our extraordinary efforts to respond to your speculation should put it to rest.' 

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and top prosecutor Matthew Colangelo have agreed to testify before House Republicans on July 12. 

Republicans have pointed to Colangelo as evidence of collusion when he departed the DOJ in December 2022 and later joined Bragg's team. 

Republicans have pointedf former  DOJ official Matthew Colangelo as evidence of collusion when he departed the DOJ in December 2022 and later joined Bragg's team

Republicans are planning a vote to hold Merrick Garland in contempt on Wednesday 

The DOJ said their search 'did not identify any instances of Mr. Colangelo having email communications with the District Attorney's office during his time at the Department.' 

Bragg's case against Trump led to a conviction last month of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. 

House Republicans are planning a vote to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress - though with a two-vote margin for error, the vote is on shaky ground. The contempt resolution relates to the DOJ refusing to hand over audio of President Biden's special counsel interview and the interview with Biden ghost writer Mark Zwonitzer. 

The DOJ offered transcripts of the interview, but said handing over the audio would be damaging to their ability to get subjects to agree to recorded interviews. 

Judiciary and Weaponization chairman Jim JOrdan claimed that Colangelo has an 'obsession' with investigating Trump 'rather than prosecuting a crime.'

'Given the perception that the Justice Department is assisting in District Attorney Bragg's politicized prosecution, we write to request information and documents related to Mr. Colangelo's employment at the New York Attorney General's Office.'

In December 2022, Colangelo, the high-flying third most senior official in President Joe Biden's Justice Department, astonished colleagues by packing his bags and leaving for the Big Apple to take a less senior role working for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Colangelo's 'unusual' move was technically a demotion, former U.S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo told DailyMail.com.

'Moving from [The Justice Department] to the Manhattan DA's office must mean that someone is a true believer,' said Yoo, who served in the George W. Bush administration and now teaches law at the University of California at Berkeley.

'It suggests that the prosecutor here is after the man, Trump, and not the crime,' said Yoo.He also helped lead an investigation into links between Trump's 2016 campaign and his charity, The Donald J. Trump Foundation.

That probe resulted in a 2018 agreement in which Trump denied wrongdoing but agreed to dissolve the foundation.

From there, Colangelo plowed straight into Trump's business empire fishing for any irregularities in bookkeeping.

During that investigation, Colangelo personally quizzed the ex-president's son Eric Trump in a deposition.

When the junior Trump complained that prosecutors were singling out his father in an act of political sabotage Colangelo snapped at him.

'I can't spend the entire day with this sort of obstreperous answer,' he's recorded as saying.

Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York declined to bring charges against Trump for the Stormy Daniels payment. 

The feds had reportedly concluded that they likely couldn't prove that Trump intended to break the law – and they closed the matter in the summer of 2019.