President Biden Asserts Executive Privilege, Blocks Release of Interview Audio with Special Counsel

President Biden used executive privilege to block the release of his interview audio with special counsel Robert Hur, a move aimed at countering Republican attempts to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for not releasing the unredacted audio. Garland advised Biden that the audio falls under executive privilege and that the committee's needs are insufficient to outweigh the harm releasing the audio could cause to similar future investigations. Hur's investigation found that many classified documents recovered from Biden's homes and papers were retained by "mistake," but some documents were willfully retained and disclosed.