美国司法部周一通知众议院共和党人，它没有计划移交乔·拜登总统与前特别顾问罗伯特·胡尔的采访录音，尽管共和党威胁可能会以藐视司法部长梅里克·加兰的罪名继续扣留录音。
DOJ高级官员卡洛斯·乌里亚特周一在给众议院司法和监督委员会主席吉姆·乔丹(Jim Jordan)和詹姆斯·科莫(James Comer)的一封信中表示:“我们在合作方面的努力证明，我们愿意并将继续尽自己的努力向美国人民展示，为他们服务的官员可以为了公共利益而富有成效地合作，同时避免不必要的冲突。”“然而，委员会的回应是升级和刑事藐视法庭的威胁。“
在2月份Hur的报告发布后，乔丹和科莫传唤了拜登的采访音频，除了检查拜登在卸任期间对机密材料的处理外，还包括有关他的年龄和缺乏回忆的尴尬细节。
Hur在长达一年的调查后最终得出结论没有提出刑事指控在该案中，他上个月在国会山的听证会上为一项决定进行了辩护。
在Hur就其报告在国会作证的当天，政府向众议院司法委员会公布了拜登采访的完整记录。
但科莫和乔丹继续向DOJ索要采访音频，以及胡尔采访拜登的代笔人马克·兹沃尼策尔的文字记录和录音。
作为周一回应的一部分，DOJ表示，它正在向众议院提供兹沃尼策尔的采访记录，但将继续保留录音，部分原因是他们认为这可能会阻止特别顾问调查中的未来证人提供拜登和兹沃尼策尔提供的广泛合作。
乌里亚特说:“委员会已经收到了特别通融的成绩单，这给了你你说你需要的信息。”“进一步制作音频文件将加大未来检察官无法获得这种程度合作的可能性。”
“他们可能更难获得采访许可。乌里亚特继续说:“今后减少与检察官和调查人员的这种合作显然不符合公众利益。”
周一晚些时候，科莫对司法部进行了反击-在一份声明中说，“拜登政府没有决定国会需要什么，也不需要对行政部门进行监督。”
“为什么美国人民不能听到他回答的真实音频?”卡莫补充道。
他说，该委员会将“很快”正式做出回应。
目前尚不清楚乔丹和科莫是否会对加兰提起藐视法庭诉讼。
在上月的证词中，Hur确实特别指出，他与拜登的采访记录和音频对他最终决定不对总统提出刑事指控具有指导意义。不过，在众议员乔丹的追问下，他没有明确表态国会是否应该获得与他的报告相关的录音。
“主席，我可以告诉你的是，我的评估进入了我描述的结论，我的报告不仅基于文字记录，还基于所有证据，包括录音，”Hur说。
Defying GOP threats of contempt, DOJ declines to hand over audio of Biden's interview with Robert Hur
The Justice Department informed House Republicans on Monday it has no plans to hand over an audio recording of President Joe Biden's interview with former special counsel Robert Hur, despite GOP threats to possibly hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for continuing to withhold the records.
"Our efforts at cooperation prove that we are, and continue to be, willing to do our part to show the American people that the officials who serve them can work together productively in the public interest while avoiding unnecessary conflict," senior DOJ official Carlos Uriarte said in a letter Monday to House Judiciary and Oversight chairmen Jim Jordan and James Comer. "Yet the Committees have responded with escalation and threats of criminal contempt."
Jordan and Comer subpoenaed the audio of Biden's interview following the release of Hur's report in February, which in addition to examining Biden's handling of classified materials while out of office also included embarrassing details about his age and lack of recall.
Hur ultimately concluded after a yearlong investigation thatno criminal charges were warrantedin the case, a decision he defended in a hearing on Capitol Hill last month.
On the day Hur testified before Congress about his report, the administration released to the House Judiciary Committee the full transcript of Biden's interview.
But Comer and Jordan continued to press DOJ for audio of the interview, as well as the transcript and audio recordings for Hur's interview with Biden's ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer.
As part of their response Monday, the DOJ said it was providing transcripts of Zwonitzer's interviews to the House but would continue to withhold the audio recordings, in part because they argue it could serve to deter future witnesses in special counsel investigations from providing the extensive cooperation provided by both Biden and Zwonitzer.
"The Committees have already received the extraordinary accommodation of the transcripts, which gives you the information you say you need," Uriarte said. "To go further by producing the audio files would compound the likelihood that future prosecutors will be unable to secure this level of cooperation."
"They might have a harder time obtaining consent to an interview at all. It is clearly not in the public interest to render such cooperation with prosecutors and investigators less likely in the future," Uriarte continued.
Later Monday, Comer pushed back on the Department of Justice -- saying in a statement that "the Biden Administration does not get to determine what Congress needs and does not need for its oversight of the executive branch."
"Why shouldn't the American people be able to hear the actual audio of his answers?" Comer added.
He said that the committee will formally respond "soon."
It was not immediately clear whether Jordan and Comer will now take the step of initiating contempt proceedings against Garland.
In his testimony last month, Hur did notably point to both the transcript and audio of his interview with Biden as instructive to his ultimate decision not to pursue criminal charges against the president. Though he would not specifically weigh in on whether or not Congress should have access to audio recordings related to his report when pressed by Rep. Jordan.
"Chairman, what I can tell you is that my assessment that went into my conclusions that I described, my report was based not solely on the transcript, it was based on all of the evidence, including the audio recordings," Hur said.
