On Tuesday, the Republicans spearheading the probe into President Joe Biden’s impeachment served a subpoena on Attorney General Merrick Garland, demanding documents pertaining to the investigation conducted by Special Counsel Robert Hur.
“The investigation into classified documents by the Justice Department has been concluded, but our committees’ investigations are ongoing,” stated James Comer (R-Ky.), chair of the Oversight Committee, and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chair of the Judiciary Committee, who issued the subpoena with Comer, in a joint statement.
Even in the absence of an internal policy against prosecuting sitting presidents, Hur concluded in a report issued earlier this month that criminal charges pertaining to Biden’s handling of classified documents would not be justified. Furthermore, the investigation noted that Biden “willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency,” but it failed to “establish Mr. Biden’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Republicans are planning to grill Hur on the report’s depictions of Biden when he testifies before the Judiciary Committee next month regarding his probe. In any legal action, Biden would be seen as a “sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory,” according to one passage.
Earlier last month, Republicans in the House sought details regarding Hur’s investigation, prompting the subpoena. That encompasses all documents, including audio recordings, pertaining to the interview between Biden and Hur’s group. Along with the secret papers pertaining to Ukraine that were mentioned in the special counsel report, they are also seeking any correspondence between the Justice Department, Biden’s personal counsel, and the White House over the findings.
As part of their extensive impeachment investigation, which has so far concentrated on the financial dealings of Biden’s relatives, Republicans in the House are looking into Biden’s handling of secret information.
In their letter dated Tuesday, Republicans stated that the Justice Department had not provided a timeline for when the data will be made available or guaranteed that all of the information sought by GOP investigators would be provided.
According to a letter that AWN got from Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte on February 16, the Justice Department was “working to gather and process materials responsive” in response to the demands made by Republicans. According to Uriarte’s letter, in order to establish if it would “assert any confidentiality interests,” the procedure would involve exchanging documents with the executive branch and conducting a classification review.
“We have started the procedure already. Uriarte further stated that the Department will reply quickly to the committees’ requests while adhering to all applicable laws, long-standing Department rules and values, and the resources at its disposal.