AG Garland: ‘We Will Not Provide Audio’ from Robert Hur Investigation

Garland: “Let me be clear: if anyone threatens public servants with violence, we will hold them accountable. And we will continue to protect our democratic institutions like this one and to bring to justice all those criminally responsible for the January 16th (sic) attack on our democracy. As attorney general, I will continue to forcefully defend the independence of the Justice Department from improper influence or interference of any kind, and I will continue to fiercely protect the integrity of our criminal investigations. Nothing will deter me from from fulfilling my obligation to uphold the rule of law. Fulfilling that obligation includes ensuring that the Justice Department respects Congress’ important role in our democracy. That is why we have gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure that the committee gets responses to its legitimate requests for information. That is why I have provided the committee with Special Counsel Hur’s report, why the special counsel testified for more than five hours, and why we have gone beyond precedent to provide the committee with the transcripts of the special counsel’s interview with the president. But we have made clear that we will not provide audio recordings from which the transcripts that you already have were created. Releasing the audio would chill cooperation with the department in future investigations, and it could influence witnesses’ answers if they thought the audio of their law enforcement interviews would be broadcast to Congress and the public. In response, certain members of this committee and the Oversight Committee are seeking contempt as a means of obtaining, for no legitimate purpose, sensitive law enforcement information that could harm the integrity of future investigations.”