President Joe Biden waived presidential privilege when he voluntarily spoke with special counsel Robert Hur, and Congress and the people of the United States have a right to hear what was said, not just read the words on a transcript, Rep. Ryan Zinke said Tuesday on Newsmax.
"There is a suspicion, based on earlier conduct by the Department of Justice, that perhaps the tapes aren't exactly accurate, and we have a duty as Congress, who is the third branch of government, to step in and oversee the investigation," the Montana Republican said on "Wake Up America." "If we see there's a possibility of either bias or malfeasance, and we have an obligation to do that by Constitution, we will get those tapes."
Further, Zinke promised, "We will put him in contempt and we will not give up until the tapes are there, because Congress has a right, the American people have a right to see them and hear them."
The House Oversight and Accountability and the Judiciary committees approved resolutions in May that found Garland in contempt of Congress after he defied subpoenas from Hur's investigation into Biden's mishandling of classified documents when Biden was in the Senate and while he was vice president.
The committees are demanding the audio recordings of the Hur interviews with the president and his ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer, along with other documents.
A full House vote on whether to hold Garland in contempt is expected as soon as Wednesday.
Zinke said he thinks Congress should, by its constitutional duty, hold Garland in contempt, but he doesn't know how much further that would go.
"Congress doesn't have a lot of power to enforce but we're not going to give up on this," Zinke said. "We do have [Judiciary Committee Chair] Jim Jordan. We have a lot of heroes, what I call patriots that want to exercise our constitutional duties as a Congress."
Zinke on Tuesday also discussed the trial of Biden's son, Hunter Biden, on charges of buying a gun while under the use of drugs. Zinke predicted a conviction.
"It will be interesting on the sentencing," he said. "But what America is witnessing is a biased judicial system that's supposed to be fair and even."
Zinke also discussed his backing for Virginia state Sen. John McGuire, the Republican campaigning to unseat House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good in Virginia's 5th Congressional District. Former President Donald Trump endorsed McGuire.
Zinke, who has served as a Navy SEAL, noted that there are already five fellow SEALs in Congress and, as chair of SEAL PAC, "we think we can get seven."
"We think we can get one in the Senate," he said. "I agree with President Trump that [Rep.] Good has been a disaster. He's been destructive for the Republican Party. He's been destructive for the conference.
"He's been destructive for the Freedom Caucus, and he's been destructive for his district. So President Trump and I strongly support John McGuire."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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