The Attorney General has failed to comply with subpoenas from two House committees, leading to contempt proceedings against Attorney General Merrick Garland on May 16. Despite being compelled by subpoenas, Mr. Garland has refused to provide recordings of special counsel Robert Hur’s interviews with President Joe Biden regarding classified documents. As a result, the House Judiciary and Oversight and Accountability committees will begin marking up resolutions to hold him in contempt of Congress. The committees issued lawful subpoenas for the audio recordings, emphasizing the importance of the recordings to their investigation. The Justice Department has provided transcripts but not the recordings themselves.
Chairman Jim Jordan released a report recommending contempt proceedings against Mr. Garland for his noncompliance. However, some members of the committees believe the contempt markup is politically motivated. The ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Biden has faced challenges, with some House Republicans pushing for impeachment over alleged bribery and influence peddling. The idea of sending a criminal referral to the Justice Department has been floated as an alternative to impeachment. If approved by the full House, a referral would be made to the Justice Department. House Speaker Mike Johnson has not commented on the matter, but has expressed concerns about the politicization of the Justice Department. The Department of Justice did not respond to requests for comment. Can you please rephrase this sentence?
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