In a statement on Thursday, Trump Campaign Spokesman Steven Cheung criticized President Joe Biden for asserting executive privilege, calling it a double standard. Biden invoked executive privilege to prevent Congress from accessing his audio recording of an interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur. The House Oversight Committee planned to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for not handing over the recording. Cheung accused Biden of politicizing executive privilege and using it to protect himself while denying it to his opponents.
Following the White House’s executive privilege assertion, the Department of Justice argued that it prevented Congress from holding Garland in contempt, but Republicans remained undeterred. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer expressed that the committee would proceed with holding Garland in contempt despite the executive privilege claim. Comer pointed out that the release of the interview transcript waived privilege, and the committee needed the recordings for its investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents.
The White House had previously highlighted its transparency by not invoking executive privilege during an investigation into Biden’s mishandling of classified documents. However, the current assertion of executive privilege raised questions about Biden’s motives. The House Judiciary Committee shared a flashback to the earlier statement from White House spokesman Ian Sams, where he praised Biden for having nothing to hide.
