Internet divided as Speaker Mike Johnson says House will sue DOJ over Joe Biden's interview tapes

WASHINGTON, DC: Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La) has announced that the House Judiciary Committee will be filing a lawsuit to compel Attorney General Merrick Garland to release audio tapes of President Joe Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur.

The lawsuit, expected to be filed next week, aims to enforce a subpoena demanding the Department of Justice (DOJ) to turn over the interview audio.

This move follows the DOJ's decision not to press criminal charges against Garland despite a House vote to hold him in contempt, according to The Hill.

Speaker Mike Johnson says 'we will fight vigorously' to get Joe Biden's audio tapes

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, June 26, Johnson said, “We are going to file suit next week against the Department of Justice to enforce that subpoena. We will go to district court here in DC, which is the appropriate venue, and we will fight vigorously to get it."

Despite lawmakers having the transcript of the president's conversation with Hur, Republicans argue that listening to the recordings will provide additional context, particularly regarding the special counsel's remarks on Biden's memory.

Anna Paulina Luna speaks about potential inherent contempt vote

Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla) has vowed to force a vote on a resolution allowing the House sergeant-at-arms to employ “inherent contempt” resolutions to detain Garland.

Though Speaker Johnson remained noncommittal on Luna's plan, he stated that her motion was one of several options under consideration “but I don’t think anything’s been settled on as of yet.”

An inherent contempt vote which has not been used in nearly 100 years poses significant challenges.

The House rules provide little guidance on how the detention of the attorney general would be executed.

Luna has argued that such measures are necessary to enforce the subpoena.

Earlier this week, Luna wrote a letter to colleagues stating, “This process demonstrates the seriousness with which Congress views non-compliance and the potential consequences for those who refuse to cooperate.

The DOJ, in its announcement, stated that it would not pursue charges against Garland and noted Biden's assertion of executive privilege over the audio recordings.

Internet doubles down on House planning to sue DOJ for Joe Biden's interview tapes

Reacting to Johnson's announcement that the House plans to sue for Biden's interview tapes, one user on X (formerly Twitter) wrote, "Is this House ever going to do any actual work "for" the people?"

"More House shenanigans," a netizen commented while another user wrote, "They have the transcripts. They just want gotcha clips."

"The transcripts are sufficient. To seek more is for manipulation to influence. People can read," a user tweeted and another user wrote, "Maybe he should take up the border bill instead of this performance activity."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.