Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) hasn’t given up on the release of former special counsel Robert Hur’s interview with former President Joe Biden.
Biden’s competence was questioned by Hur, who referred to him as “an elderly man with a poor memory” during an interview in 2023. Hur’s office found the then-president lacked a “mental state of willfulness,” leading it to decide he was not worth charging over his handling of classified documents because “it would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him.” The House Judiciary and Oversight committees issued subpoenas for the audio, which went unanswered.
“I don’t know if you remember when I forced a vote on inherit contempt [Merrick] Garland for denying Congresses its subpoena on those Hur tapes, but I tell you, now is the time,” Luna said on Fox News’s Jesse Watters Primetime on Tuesday. “I believe in total and complete transparency. I have every bit of faith that the White House will be pushing for release, but Congress needs to follow through on that as well. Have hearings, have investigations, and call those people in and hold them accountable … Right now, I would advise Pam Bondi to get those tapes out and hold people accountable, and we should do the same.”
Former Attorney General Merrick Garland opted to release the interview transcript between Hur and Biden but nothing else.
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CNN, the Heritage Foundation, and Judicial Watch, among others, were all denied Freedom of Information Act requests for the audio and subsequently filed suits against the Justice Department. The DOJ said it is withholding the audio due to fears that it will be altered by artificial intelligence, according to a court filing.
Hur left his position as special counsel with the department in March. Just before he resigned, he addressed the House Judiciary Committee about his interview.