Biden Denies GOP Request for Interview Recording

US President Joe Biden rejected a demand by House Republicans to turn over the audio recording of his interview with the special counsel who investigated his handling of classified documents.

The Justice Department and White House counsel said in letters to two Republican House committee chairmen that Biden was asserting executive privilege over the recordings.

Special Counsel Robert Hur interviewed the president extensively for his investigation into Biden's retention of classified records.

In a nearly 350-page report released in February, Hur said criminal charges against Biden were not warranted.

But in a politically explosive section, Hur described him as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."

Republicans have focused on Hur's comments about Biden's memory, hoping to reignite the age issue for the 81-year-old Democrat ahead of an expected rematch against 77-year-old Republican Donald Trump in the November presidential election.

Transcripts of Hur's interview with Biden were released but House Republicans were also seeking the audio recordings.

White House counsel Edward Siskel said Biden was claiming executive privilege over the recordings to protect the integrity, effectiveness, and independence of the Department of Justice and its law enforcement.

"We have gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure that the committees get responses to their legitimate requests, but this is not one," US Attorney General Merrick Garland tells reporters as he defends not turning over audio of an interview of President Biden with investigators probing his handling of classified documents.

"To the contrary, this is one that will harm our ability in the future to successfully pursue sensitive investigations," Garland adds.