Biden’s executive privilege over Hur audio, but not transcript, draws scrutiny

From the Washington Examiner

President Joe Biden‘s assertion of executive privilege over special counsel Robert Hur’s audio recording of their classified documents interview sparked criticism from Republicans and legal experts after the president previously waived his privilege of the interview transcript.

A few hours before the House Judiciary Committee‘s hearing to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt over the audio, Biden’s counsel and the Department of Justice revealed the president had decided at the eleventh hour to claim executive privilege over the recordings, meaning Biden had asserted his right under the separation of powers to withhold the audio from Congress.

House GOP members spent much of the Judiciary hearing, and later an Oversight Committee hearing, questioning the validity of Biden’s assertion, arguing it was for political reasons and a way to avoid shedding light on the president’s “declining” mental state.

“That tape must be quite something if the administration of the president has decided to assert executive privilege to keep it from the committee in the course of an impeachment inquiry,” Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) said during the Judiciary hearing, referencing the broader inquiry the GOP is conducting into the Biden family’s business dealings.
Tom Fitton, the president of the conservative watchdog Judicial Watch, said Biden’s move “appears to be a novel use of executive privilege” and that he plans to file a legal challenge to it.

Read more here…