Photo: US Attorney General Garland was found in contempt of Congress by the House of Representatives. \AFP

[Ta Kung Pao News]According to The Washington Post: In the US election year, party disputes have intensified. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted on the 12th to find Attorney General Garland in “contempt of Congress” because he refused to submit recordings related to the criminal investigation of Democratic President Biden. The Democratic Party criticized the Republican resolution as “groundless” and politically motivated.

On the 12th local time, the House of Representatives voted 216 in favor and 207 against to find Garland in “contempt of Congress”, and the voting was basically divided along party lines. Among the Republican members, only Joyce, who was a former prosecutor, voted against it. According to US media reports, Garland was found in “contempt of Congress”, which means that members of the House of Representatives recommended that the Department of Justice bring criminal charges against him. However, such votes mostly only play a “symbolic role”, and it is the Department of Justice that is responsible for investigating whether Garland has committed a crime and deciding whether to prosecute. According to convention, it is “extremely unlikely” for the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute the Attorney General for a crime.

Biden was previously involved in the “Secret Documents Gate” scandal, in which he was revealed to have improperly handled classified documents after leaving office as vice president in 2017. The special prosecutor of the Department of Justice who led the investigation released an investigation report in February this year, determining that Biden had deliberately retained classified documents, but due to his “poor memory”, it was impossible to determine that he had criminal intent, so it was not recommended to bring criminal charges against him.

House Republicans were dissatisfied with the results of the investigation and asked the Justice Department to submit the recording of Biden’s questioning, but the Justice Department only submitted the transcript of the questioning, and the White House also used the president’s executive privilege to prevent the Justice Department from submitting the recording. The White House said that the Republicans might edit the recording for political purposes.