The Department of Justice will not prosecute Attorney General Merrick Garland after the House of Representatives voted to hold him in contempt of Congress. JUST IN: House Votes To Hold Attorney General Merrick Garland In Contempt Of Congress Garland defied subpoenas from the House Judiciary and Oversight committees demanding he turn over audio recordings from Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur. BREAKING: Justice Department won't prosecute Garland for contempt, says refusal to provide audio wasn't crime - AP — Breaking911 (@Breaking911) June 14, 2024 Per CBS News: Carlos Uriarte, assistant attorney general, told House Speaker Mike Johnson in a letter that it is the Justice Department's longstanding policy not to bring contempt charges against an official who declined to turn over subpoenaed information subject to a president's assertion of executive privilege. Mr. Biden invoked executive privilege over the audiotapes of his interviews with Hur, as well as an interview by his ghostwriter, and directed Garland not to release the materials sought by the House Judiciary and Oversight and Accountability Committees. Republicans on the panel had sought the recordings as part of their impeachment inquiry into the president. "Consistent with this longstanding position and uniform practice, the Department has determined that the responses by Attorney General Garland to the subpoenas issued by the Committees did not constitute a crime, and accordingly the Department will not bring the congressional contempt citation before a grand jury or take any other action to prosecute the Attorney General," Uriarte, who leads the Justice Department's Office of Legislative Affairs, wrote. Just in: The DOJ will not prosecute AG Merrick Garland for contempt of Congress for his refusal to turn over audio from Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur. pic.twitter.com/VkHJZ48fMC — The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) June 14, 2024 "The House disagrees with the assertions in the letter from the Department of Justice, and as Speaker, I will be certifying the contempt reports to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. We will also move to enforce the subpoena of Attorney General Garland in federal court," House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said. "It is sadly predictable that the Biden Administration’s Justice Department will not prosecute Garland for defying congressional subpoenas even though the department aggressively prosecuted Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro for the same thing. This is yet another example of the two-tiered system of justice brought to us by the Biden Administration," he added. The House disagrees with the assertions in the letter from the Department of Justice, and as Speaker, I will be certifying the contempt reports to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. We will also move to enforce the subpoena of Attorney General Garland in federal… https://t.co/YOzqzlKWtE — Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) June 14, 2024 CNN reports: Republican lawmakers have argued that access to the tapes would provide more information, transparency and oversight around the investigation into a sitting US president. On Wednesday, every Republican in the House except one – Rep. Dave Joyce of Ohio – voted to hold Garland in contempt of Congress. While the Justice Department has defended its decision to not turn over the audio recordings of Biden’s interviews with Hur and his team – claiming the decision was made in part to protect this and future investigations – the Justice Department did make public transcripts of those interviews. In describing the interviews, Hur said that Biden presented himself “as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” At the time, Biden ridiculed Hur’s report and questions about his memory. “Their task was to make a decision over whether to move forward with charges in this case,” Biden said during a press conference following the report, noting that Hur did not move forward with charges. “For any extraneous commentary they don’t know what they’re talking about. It has not place in this report.”

Former President Donald Trump delivered a “focused” pitch to America’s top CEOs and received a loud ovation at the conclusion of his Business Roundtable remarks Thursday, an attendee at the meeting told The Daily Signal. That’s a stark contrast to reporting from New York Times columnist and CNBC host Andrew Ross Sorkin, who told “Squawk Box” viewers Friday that Trump was “meandering, could not keep a straight thought, was all over the map.” Hours later, White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates amplified Sorkin’s spin on X. CNBC and other liberal media outlets ran with the story, and an MSNBC blogger suggested Trump’s appearance raised “concerns about his cognitive state.” But is any of it true? “It’s a clear bunch of BS,” according to the attendee. “This is a farce all the way around.” News outlets mostly stuck to the substance of Trump’s remarks in their initial coverage Thursday: He spoke about cutting corporate taxes from 21% to 20%, after reducing the rate from 35% during his presidency. The media narrative began to change Friday, starting with Sorkin’s CNBC commentary. I will say I was surprised. I spoke to a number of CEOs who I would say walked into the meeting being Trump supporter-ish, or thinking that they might be leaning that direction, who said that he was remarkably meandering, could not keep a straight thought, was all over the map, and that they – which, maybe not surprising – but was interesting to me because these were people who, I think, might have been actually predisposed to him and actually walked out of the room less predisposed to him, actually predisposed to thinking ‘This is not necessarily,’ as one person said, ‘this may not be any different or better than a Biden thought, if you’re thinking that way.’ By Friday night, the Biden campaign’s official X account was promoting the Sorkin clip. Reporter: I just spoke to a number of CEOs who met with Donald Trump. They thought they may support him at first, but they walked out of the meeting saying he was remarkably meandering, could not keep a straight thought, and was all over the map pic.twitter.com/M6rx7i4zX0— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) June 15, 2024 But the attendee who spoke with The Daily Signal said Sorkin’s interpretation is wrong. (The Daily Signal granted the attendee anonymity to speak candidly about the private meeting.) “There was never a moment of meandering,” the attendee said. “He was focused. In fact, he received a loud ovation at the end.” The attendee added: “There was not one CEO who wasn’t impressed with what they heard from Trump. Everybody was clapping.” Sorkin, who was not present at the Business Roundtable meeting, did not immediately reply to The Daily Signal’s request for comment. The post ‘Bunch of BS’: Attendee at Trump’s CEO Meeting Refutes Media Reports appeared first on The Daily Signal.

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The iconic American brand Tupperware will be closing its last U.S.-based factory, the company announced Thursday.