(Washington) Joe Biden’s Attorney General, Merrick Garland, was sanctioned Wednesday by Republicans in the House of Representatives for refusing to cooperate in an investigation against the Democratic president.
Conservative elected officials have been demanding for weeks audio recordings of a testimony by the American leader before a special prosecutor, which his secretary refuses to provide to them.
This deposition took place as part of a case surrounding the retention of confidential documents by Joe Biden.
In his report, the special prosecutor in charge of the investigation ultimately recommended a dismissal of the case for the president, but made controversial comments about his sometimes failing memory.
In the middle of an election year, the Democratic camp had denounced “gratuitous” remarks with “political motivations”, but their Republican opponents had immediately exploited the report to consider that Joe Biden was “unfit” to exercise his functions.
Since then, two Republican-controlled House committees have demanded that the recording be provided to them, not just the transcripts.
Mr. Garland justified his refusal to hand over these recordings by the need to ensure the cooperation of senior executive officials in future similar investigations.
The sanction taken against Merrick Garland on Thursday, accused of “attempting to obstruct a congressional investigation”, is however mainly symbolic.
