Experts say Biden is using executive privilege to block release of special council interview

President Joe Biden's use of executive privilege to block the release of audio recordings of his interview with special counsel Robert Hur is being described as a move rooted exclusively in politics.

On Thursday, the White House said the octogenarian Democrat would reject requests from congressional Republicans for tapes of his meeting with Hur, which have become a major embarrassment for a man who was described as a ” old man with bad memory”. ” by the prosecutor, a description that outraged Biden and his allies.

The transcript of the interview was published months ago. There is no reason for AG Garland to withhold the audio or for Biden to invoke executive privilege to keep the tapes hidden from the public. What is so damning about the audio that this administration is afraid to release it? https://t.co/v1tluNBWyi

— Rep. Harriet Hageman (@RepHageman) May 16, 2024

The decision was attributed to Biden's handpicked Attorney General, Merrick Garland, who, according to White House First Lady Karine Jean-Pierre, suggested that “law enforcement cases like these have to protect”.

“And so the president made his determination at the request of the attorney general,” Jean-Pierre said at Thursday's daily press conference, referring to additional questions from the White House counsel's office.

The claim of executive privilege drew a strong response from legal experts who said the move was “extremely problematic” and “strictly a political decision”.

“Executive privilege is designed to respect the constitutional separation of powers and to allow a president to have frank conversations with his top advisers in order to form judgments and make decisions,” said former federal prosecutor John Malcolm of the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Executive privilege “is not designed to withhold information that could be embarrassing to a president or some other government official or operation,” Malcolm said. he said Fox News Digital, noting that the transcript of the interview has already been released.

“Therefore, there is no national security or deliberative process reason not to release the tapes of the interview,” he added. “The only conceivable reason why President Biden would want to prevent the tapes from being released is because he is concerned about how the public will react to his behavior and remember when he answers Special Counsel Hur's questions, especially since questions have already been raised serious about his demeanor and his ability to serve effectively as president.”

“If he has some other legitimate reason to withhold that information, and it's hard to understand what that might be, he needs to say what it is,” Malcolm said.

“The Biden administration appears to be writing off Attorney General Garland to be the public face of this flimsy claim of executive privilege, so neither President Biden nor his senior White House staff need to be, and so that the White House press secretary can avoid answering questions about it and simply refer them to the Justice Department,” said John Shu, who served as an official in both Bush administrations.

Executive privilege “should not encompass a recording of a president's voluntarily represented interview, especially when he waived the privilege and released the transcript, which removes any national security concerns,” Shu told Fox News Digital .

“It is not unreasonable for Congress to request these recordings because transcripts are not always accurate, and this White House has previously edited official transcripts when the president mistakenly read aloud teleprompter prompts,” he added. “Transcripts also generally do not reflect verbal intonations or emotional expressions such as anger, sarcasm, or humor.”

“It is clear that President Biden and his advisers fear releasing the audio recordings of his interview because it will once again reaffirm to the American people that President Biden's mental state is in decline. The House Oversight Committee requires these recordings as part of our investigation into President Biden's mishandling of classified documents,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) he said Fox News Digital.

Staff writer

Chris Donaldson is a regular, ordinary American who is concerned about rampant corruption, as well as the ongoing attacks on our way of life by those who despise our hard-won freedoms. A Navy veteran, he has been a frequent contributor to conservative websites and resides in Florida.

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