House Republicans will renew their push Tuesday to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena. 

The GOP-led Rules Committee will take up resolutions passed by the Judiciary and Oversight committees last month recommending Garland’s own Justice Department prosecute him for contempt. If the matter clears the Rules Committee, it would then go to the full House for a vote. 

If the House passes the measure, Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney in Washington, would decide whether to file charges.

House Republicans are demanding Garland turn over an audio recording of President Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur about Biden’s handling of classified documents.

Garland has refused to comply, arguing lawmakers already have the transcript of the interview and had the opportunity to question Hur. The attorney general also said releasing the audio could hurt future investigations. 

“It could influence witnesses' answers if they thought the audio of their law enforcement interviews would be broadcast to Congress and the public,” Garland told the Judiciary Committee in a hearing last week. 

“I view contempt as a serious matter, but I will not jeopardize the ability of our prosecutors and agents to do their jobs effectively in future investigations,” he added. “I will not be intimidated, and the Justice Department will not be intimidated.”

Meanwhile, Biden has asserted executive privilege to block release of the audio, an action recommended by Garland.

House Republicans say they want to hear the audio to determine if the transcript is accurate. 

“We don't have confidence that the transcript is 100% accurate,” Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the Oversight committee, told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” on Sunday. “We've already seen bits and pieces that would suggest that Merrick Garland's Department of Justice has altered the transcript. So if the transcript is accurate, why not release the audiotapes?”

The Justice Department maintains the transcript, which was produced by Hur’s office, is accurate and that the only edits made to it were to help readability — such as removing repeated words or filler words such as “um.” 

House Democrats argue Republicans want to use the audio to launch political attacks against Biden. 

“This contempt resolution has more to do with helping the Trump campaign than any legitimate disagreement with the DOJ,” Judiciary Committee Democrats posted Monday on X, formerly Twitter.

In a February report he submitted to Garland, Hur wrote that his investigation “uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen.”

Justice Department policy protects a sitting president from being charged with crimes, but Hur said, even if he could, he would not recommend prosecuting Biden because the evidence did not prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Hur justified his conclusion by saying Biden cooperated with the investigation, seemed uncertain about whether some information was classified and could credibly claim he believed his notebooks containing classified information were his personal property. 

Hur also wrote, “Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” comments Republicans have seized upon.