House Speaker Mike Johnson was one of 204 Republicans who voted for a (failed) resolution to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for refusing to release audio tapes of special counsel Robert Hur’s interview with President Joe Biden—when just days earlier, he’d tried to stop the vote from happening altogether.
Johnson’s spinelessness was ultimately for nothing, as MAGA Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna’s “inherent contempt” resolution failed 204–210, with 19 members not voting.
If the resolution had passed, Garland would’ve been fined $10,000 for every day he did not comply with Republicans’ demands to turn over the audio recording, an attempt by the House GOP to turn up the heat on the attorney general, whom they voted to hold in contempt last month. When Biden asserted executive privilege over the recording to block Garland from releasing it, Republicans sued Garland to force his hand.
A total of four Republicans split with the rest of their party. Among them was Representative David Joyce, who also broke the party line in Garland’s contempt vote last month. This time, he was joined by Representatives Tom McClintock, John Duarte, and Mike Turner.
Despite the fact that House Republicans have already received transcripts of the interview, they have continued to demand its full audio. In reality, it appears that Republicans have been ceaselessly targeting Garland as part of their political retribution against the Department of Justice on behalf of Donald Trump.
Earlier this week, Johnson reportedly urged Luna to hold off on calling for a vote on her resolution. While Johnson said he was also concerned about Garland, he believed the House’s lawsuit to enforce their congressional subpoena was enough.
Obviously, Luna didn’t see things that way.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Luna claimed that the vote had failed due to Republican absences and said she had already refiled and planned to call a vote again when Congress returns to session.
