House Republicans sue attorney general in federal court over Biden audiotapes

July 1 (UPI) -- The House Judiciary Committee on Monday sued Attorney General Merrick Garland in order to obtain the audio tapes of special counsel Robert Hur's interview of President Joe Biden related to his handling of classified documents after exiting the vice presidency.

The civil action lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Washington requests, among other things, an injunction to order Garland "to produce the audio recordings of the Special Counsel's interviews with President Biden and Mark Zwonitzer," the president's book ghostwriter, to the Republican-lead House Judiciary Committee chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan , R-Ohio.

Biden has claimed executive privilege while refusing to turn over the audio recordings to the House. While the transcripts of Biden's two-day interview have been available online and total 258 pages, Garland and the Justice Department contend that executive privilege is a valid reason to deny access to the recordings.

It happened the same day a Supreme Court ruling stated that former President Donald Trump has presidential immunity, but only for official acts while in office as president.

The topic has remained an ongoing partisan point of contention between the White House and Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Last week, a Florida House Republican announced a GOP plan to have Garland taken into custody by the House sergeant-at-arms by utilizing a largely mundane and hardly used House procedural tool.

That was preceded in early June when the House -- after the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees voted in May to push the resolution -- voted 216-207 largely along party lines told hold Garland in contempt of Congress for his refusal to provide the audio recordings of Biden's Oct. 8 and Oct. 9 interviews by Hur despite the transcript.

Following the vote, the attorney general accused the House GOP of turning a "serious congressional authority into a partisan weapon," followed then by a recent GOP-lead effort days ago to hold Zwonitzer, likewise, in contempt of Congress.

That came after House Speaker Mike Johnson recently sought a court order to get the long-awaited audiotapes wanted by House Republicans from the attorney general after the Justice Department declined to prosecute Garland over the matter.

After Garland's contempt of Congress vote, Johnson said at the time that it is "up to Congress -- not the executive branch -- to determine what materials it needs to conduct its own investigations and there are consequences for refusing to comply with lawful Congressional subpoenas."