(NewsNation) — Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, was among the Republican House members voting in favor of holding Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress Wednesday.
Garland has refused to turn over the audio recordings of President Joe Biden’s interview with Robert Hur, the special counsel investigating the classified documents discovered at a Biden office and his Delaware home.
“Yes, there were minor edits to the transcript,” Crenshaw told NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.” “An alteration is an alteration, so why not just give us the audio recording so we can actually see what it says?”
The transcript of Biden’s interview has been available for months, but Crenshaw says listening to the interview may reveal more.
“I’m not overly concerned with the state of his memory or his mental state. I can see that every single day. I don’t need these documents to show that. I’m much more concerned with his intent to keep classified documents that could be damaging to national security and his intent to use those in a conversation with a biographer,” Crenshaw said.
Biden has claimed executive privilege over the tapes, and an internal Justice Department opinion obtained by The Hill ahead of the vote indicates the department considers that a valid legal basis for sidestepping the subpoena.
“It is deeply disappointing that this House of Representatives has turned a serious congressional authority into a partisan weapon. Today’s vote disregards the constitutional separation of powers, the Justice Department’s need to protect its investigations, and the substantial amount of information we have provided to the Committees,” Garland said in a statement after the vote.
“They (Democrats) always open the door to this kind of stuff and then clutch their pearls when someone does it back to them,” Crenshaw replied.
The Hill contributed to this report.