House votes to hold Garland in contempt, refer him for criminal charges at own DOJ

The House voted to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress on Wednesday, referring the top Department of Justice (DOJ) official for criminal charges.

The measure passed nearly along party lines in a 216 to 207 vote, with just one Republican, Rep. David Joyce, R-Ohio, voting against it.

Joyce said in a statement after the vote, "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."

GOP lawmakers aimed to hold Garland in contempt over his refusal to turn over audio recordings of Special Counsel Robert Hur's interview with President Biden.

Hur concluded that no criminal charges were warranted in Biden's handling of classified documents, but also said the 81-year-old president presented himself "as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory," and that "it would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him — by then a former president well into his eighties — of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness."

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Biden and his allies aggressively pushed back on concerns about his mental fitness in the report’s wake.

The Justice Department released a statement from Attorney General Garland 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