Staff Reports
The House Oversight Committee held an extended meeting on Thursday night, ultimately deciding to proceed with holding Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress. The issue arose from Garland's refusal to provide audio recordings from an interview with President Joe Biden regarding classified documents. The committee voted 23-19 in favor of the contempt resolution.
Earlier in the day, the House Judiciary Committee also approved a similar contempt resolution against Garland. The Oversight Committee meeting, initially scheduled for the morning, was delayed until 8 p.m. due to some Republican committee members attending a trial for former President Donald Trump.
Oversight Committee votes to approve the report recommending that Garland be held in contempt pic.twitter.com/VKgkEWWFQy
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 17, 2024
The evening meeting was marked by intense arguments and heightened tensions between Democrats and Republicans. The situation escalated when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene made disparaging remarks about Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s appearance, prompting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to demand an apology. The exchange led to significant shouting and a temporary recess before the committee could finalize the vote on the resolution.
House Republicans on the Oversight and Judiciary committees are frustrated with President Biden's handling of classified documents and are pushing for his impeachment. Committee Chairman James Comer emphasized that the request for the audio recordings had been denied by Garland. Comer insisted that there must be repercussions for such noncompliance, which justified the decision to hold Garland in contempt.
