Your daily adult tube feed all in one place!
Biden's blundering debate causes Republicans to SUE for audio tapes of Special Counsel Rob Hur's interview during which he appeared 'old and elderly'
Joe Biden's disastrous debate performance has prompted Republicans to sue the Department of Justice to release the tapes of his special counsel interview that called the president an 'elderly' man with a 'poor memory.'
Tapes of the interview have been requested by GOP lawmakers who are probing the commander-in-chief's competence.
Instead of giving the audio tapes to lawmakers, the DOJ provided a transcript of the interview, prompting the GOP's vote to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress last month for 'concealing' the requested materials.
Republicans say only the tapes will provide more damning evidence of the president's diminished cognitive ability, which is now firmly in the spotlight following the first presidential debate.
On Monday the House Judiciary Committee announced it is suing Garland to get ahold of the audio tapes, significantly escalating their feud with the DOJ.
Joe Biden caused concern among Democrats and voters after the 81-year-old stumbled through his first debate with former President Donald Trump. His age was a central focus of the showing and since the debate Republicans have increased calls for the DOJ to release an audio interview with the president which caused the agency to believe Biden has a 'poor memory'
'This dispute is principally about a frivolous assertion of executive privilege,' the 56-page lawsuit begins.
'While DOJ has provided the Committee with transcripts of those interviews, transcripts that the Executive Branch has released publicly, Attorney General Garland has refused to produce the audio recordings of the Special Counsel’s interviews with President Biden.'
'Instead, Attorney General Garland asked that President Biden assert executive privilege over those recordings, and President Biden complied with that request.'
The suit argues that Congress has the power and responsibility to oversee actions taken by the executive branch and the Garland has impeded the lawmakers from doing so.
'This is why they don't want Congress to have that audio tape,' Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., said last week after Biden's age became the central issue during the debate.
'If it's the same, then why is the audio sacred but everybody can get a transcript?' Donalds said.
'Watching tonight, that is exactly why the American people should hear the Robert Hur audio from his interview with Joe Biden.'
Biden often did not use his full allotted to him to answer questions and had a soft voice during the event which at times made it hard to hear the president
Shortly after the debate, Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., told reporters Joe Biden's performance must be indicative of what is being withheld in the DOJ's audio tapes
Republicans have sought the audio tape for months since the DOJ report was published in early February.
However, the White House has invoked executive privilege over the audio tapes, effectively blocking the DOJ from handing them over.
During the interview, special counsel Robert Hur said that Biden could not remember the dates of his son Beau's death and other key moments of his life and work as vice president.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has received the scorn of Republicans over his repeated refusal to give the the audio.
His withholding the tapes prompted Republican lawmakers to hold the top law enforcement official in contempt of Congress.
By doing so the GOP members forwarded recommendation of contempt charges against Garland to his DOJ, and the department is likely going to ignore their request to bring a case against the agency's boss.
Immediately after the televised event Democrat pundits began speculating whether Biden should bow out of the race while he still can
Attorney General Merrick Garland has been held in contempt of Congress for his refusal to hand over the audio tapes to Republicans, and GOP lawmakers now plan to sue the agency to get the recordings
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday he is planning on suing the DOJ to get ahold of the Joe Biden interview audio tapes
As a result, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., cooked up a different plan to try and force Garland to comply by filing an 'inherent contempt resolution,' which would direct the top congressional security agent, the Sergeant-at-Arms, to arrest the Attorney General.
But Republicans have been hesitant to go so far as to put the resolution up for a vote.
Luna said the inherent contempt charge would get a vote Friday, but that did not happen. She later said she would work with House leadership on a path forward for the measure.
On Monday, text of her inherent contempt resolution was released showing that instead of seeking the Sergeant-at-Arms to arrest Garland, that he would instead be fined $10,000 per day.
It is unclear when the resolution would receive a vote on the House floor.
'President Biden showed last night that he was weak, sadly, that he is feeble,' Speaker Mike Johnson,R-La., said Friday after the debate.
'He will very likely sound exactly on that tape as he did on the stage last night and that's embarrassing to the President.'
He mentioned then how the House would look to bring the suit against Garland and the DOJ.
Responding to Johnson's threat last week, the DOJ claimed that Garland has not broken the law.