Rep. Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D., told Newsmax on Thursday that in invoking executive privilege to retain the audio recordings of his interview with special counsel Robert Hur, President Joe Biden established "a pretty disturbing pattern," which he believes contains a mistake that will ultimately benefit the congressional oversight committees.
"Right before special counsel Hur's hearing, they dropped the transcript; right before our hearing today, they invoked executive privilege," Armstrong said during an appearance on Newsmax's "The Record With Greta Van Susteren." "But I think they kind of made a mistake because one of the ways to waive executive privilege is when they leak the transcript to the press.
"So I think we have a good legal case. I think we should have a good legal case. DOJ [Department of Justice] doesn't get to tell us what the best evidence is; that's our determination. But, unfortunately, I'm not sure we're going to be able to handle it quickly."
On Thursday, Biden asserted executive privilege over audio of his interview with Hur that's central to the Republican effort to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress.
Garland reportedly advised Biden in a letter on Thursday that the audio falls within the scope of executive privilege, saying the "committee's needs are plainly insufficient to outweigh the deleterious effects that the production of the recordings would have on the integrity and effectiveness of similar law enforcement investigations in the future."
When asked where the authority is to invoke executive privilege over the Hur interview, Armstrong said, "I don't think it exists, and more importantly, I think there's another step to this."
"They're essentially saying we only get what they want us to get in the medium they want to provide it," he said. "You know, the DOJ said this was going to chill the effect of other people cooperating, but the reality is I think it's farcical on its face.
"You're saying, 'I'll cooperate if you release a transcript, but I won't cooperate if you release the taped version of the interview,' and it just doesn't make any sense. They're stonewalling and they're throwing all these accusations up when it's actually something this committee deserves and needs to get."
Armstrong said that he thinks the Biden administration invoked executive privilege because it has the upper hand through the Justice Department.
"I think that's honestly one of the reasons the White House invoked executive privilege, ... because otherwise we actually have a mechanism to get it. They're trying to run out the clock to November," he said.
"[I]f the Republicans maintain the House, we should continue down this path, because this is a really dangerous precedent to set, if you're going to allow the Department of Justice to determine which evidence they provide over to the one committee that is in charge of doing oversight over the executive branch. This has long-term consequences — a lot more than what we're dealing with right now."
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Nicole Wells ✉
Nicole Wells, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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