GOP prepares to vote on AG Garland contempt of Congress charges for withholding Biden audio clips where he appeared 'elderly with a bad memory'

House Republicans are planning a vote to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress later today.

But since Speaker Mike Johnson can only afford to lose two GOP votes, it is on shaky ground. 

The contempt resolution relates to the DOJ refusing to hand over audio of President Biden's special counsel interview.

During the interview, Special Counsel Robert Hur said that Biden appeared 'elderly' with a 'poor memory' as he mixed up his son Beau's death date and had a series of other stumbles.

The DOJ released written transcripts of the interview, but they said releasing audio might make it harder for prosecutors to secure recorded interviews in the future, with witnesses knowing it could be blasted out into the public.

However, Republicans have suggested the transcript of the interview could be inaccurate.

Garland would be the third attorney general held in contempt for defying a congressional subpoena if Republicans are successful. He's likely to be shielded from legal repercussions since Biden has asserted executive privilege over the audio. 

The Department of Justice tore into Republican-led 'conspiratorial speculation' about coordination between the DOJ and Manhattan Attorney Alvin Bragg on the Trump prosecution

Biden has asserted executive privilege over the audio of Hur's interviews with himself and his book ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer to keep it out of GOP hands.

However, Republicans have suggested the transcript of the interview could be inaccurate.

Garland lashed out at the contempt move, saying earlier Thursday that the DOJ has gone to 'extraordinary lengths' to provide the committee with information.

'We have gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure that a committees get responses to their legitimate requests, but this is not one,' Garland told reporters ahead of a hearing to advance his contempt charge. 

Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Ky., shot back: 'The White House is asserting privilege over the recordings, but it has already waived privilege by releasing the transcript of the interview. 

The Department of Justice tore into Republican-led 'conspiratorial speculation' about coordination between the DOJ and Manhattan Attorney Alvin Bragg on the Trump prosecution. 

Carlos Uriarte, an assistant attorney general at Justice, wrote to Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan informing him the DOJ had conducted a search for any emails between leadership there and Bragg's office about an investigation into or prosecution of former President Donald Trump and did not find any. 

'The self-justifying 'perception' asserted by the Committee is completely baseless, but the Committee continues to traffic it widely,' Uriarte wrote.

 'As the Attorney General stated at his hearing, the conspiracy theory that the recent jury verdict in New York state court was somehow controlled by the Department is not only false, it is irresponsible.' 

Uriarte warned that Republicans' assertions could be putting DOJ officials at risk. 

'Indeed, accusations of wrongdoing made without—and in fact contrary to—evidence undermine confidence in the justice system and have contributed to increased threats of violence and attacks on career law enforcement officials and prosecutors. Our extraordinary efforts to respond to your speculation should put it to rest.' 

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and top prosecutor Matthew Colangelo have agreed to testify before House Republicans on July 12. 

Republicans have pointed to Colangelo as evidence of collusion when he departed the DOJ in December 2022 and later joined Bragg's team. 

Republicans have pointedf former  DOJ official Matthew Colangelo as evidence of collusion when he departed the DOJ in December 2022 and later joined Bragg's team

Republicans are planning a vote to hold Merrick Garland in contempt on Wednesday 

The DOJ said their search 'did not identify any instances of Mr. Colangelo having email communications with the District Attorney's office during his time at the Department.' 

Bragg's case against Trump led to a conviction last month of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. 

House Republicans are planning a vote to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress - though with a two-vote margin for error, the vote is on shaky ground. The contempt resolution relates to the DOJ refusing to hand over audio of President Biden's special counsel interview and the interview with Biden ghost writer Mark Zwonitzer. 

The DOJ offered transcripts of the interview, but said handing over the audio would be damaging to their ability to get subjects to agree to recorded interviews. 

Judiciary and Weaponization chairman Jim JOrdan claimed that Colangelo has an 'obsession' with investigating Trump 'rather than prosecuting a crime.'

'Given the perception that the Justice Department is assisting in District Attorney Bragg’s politicized prosecution, we write to request information and documents related to Mr. Colangelo’s employment at the New York Attorney General’s Office.'

In December 2022, Colangelo, the high-flying third most senior official in President Joe Biden's Justice Department, astonished colleagues by packing his bags and leaving for the Big Apple to take a less senior role working for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Colangelo's 'unusual' move was technically a demotion, former U.S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo told DailyMail.com.

'Moving from [The Justice Department] to the Manhattan DA’s office must mean that someone is a true believer,' said Yoo, who served in the George W. Bush administration and now teaches law at the University of California at Berkeley.

‘It suggests that the prosecutor here is after the man, Trump, and not the crime,’ said Yoo.He also helped lead an investigation into links between Trump's 2016 campaign and his charity, The Donald J. Trump Foundation.

That probe resulted in a 2018 agreement in which Trump denied wrongdoing but agreed to dissolve the foundation.

From there, Colangelo plowed straight into Trump's business empire fishing for any irregularities in bookkeeping.

During that investigation, Colangelo personally quizzed the ex-president’s son Eric Trump in a deposition.

When the junior Trump complained that prosecutors were singling out his father in an act of political sabotage Colangelo snapped at him.

'I can’t spend the entire day with this sort of obstreperous answer,’ he’s recorded as saying.

Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York declined to bring charges against Trump for the Stormy Daniels payment. 

The feds had reportedly concluded that they likely couldn’t prove that Trump intended to break the law – and they closed the matter in the summer of 2019.