President Joe Biden has invoked executive privilege to prevent House committees from accessing audio recordings of his interviews with special counsel Robert Hur regarding his handling of classified documents. The White House counsel’s office notified House GOP investigators of this decision just hours before Republicans planned to recommend holding Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for not handing over the audio. This move by the President didn’t deter the GOP’s plan; instead, it sparked significant outrage among Republicans, who are now proceeding with their intended contempt vote.

Hur’s description of his interviews with Biden — detailed in a 345-page report released in February — fueled a firestorm over the president’s memory and mental fitness. Hur suggested that Biden could potentially defend himself in court by appealing to jurors as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” In response, Biden held a fiery news conference defending his acuity.

Although the transcripts of the interviews have been released, Biden’s effort to block the recordings puts him in a politically awkward position. He has insisted that Hur mischaracterized the interviews but is still trying to maintain secrecy over the raw audio.

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