Biden Exerts Executive Privilege to Block Release of Audio from Documents Interview With Robert Hur

President Joe Biden has exerted executive privilege to prevent the release of audio recordings of his interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur.

In a letter sent Thursday to House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY) and House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH), the White House argued there is no “legitimate need” for a recording of the interview to be released, and said such a recording would be used for political purposes.

“The absence of a legitimate need for the audio recordings lays bare your likely goal—to chop them up, distort them, and use them for partisan political purposes,” the letter from White House Counsel Ed Siskel reads. “Demanding such sensitive and constitutionally-protected law enforcement materials from the Executive Branch because you want to manipulate them for potential political gain is inappropriate.”

According to the letter, Attorney General Merrick Garland recommended to the president that he exert executive privilege over the interview, which took place over two days. Garland’s concern was reportedly that if the audio recordings were used for political purposes, other government officials could be less inclined to cooperate with investigations down the line.

Hur led a probe into Biden and his storing of classified documents. He ultimately recommended no charges for the president, but did make waves when he referred to Biden’s memory as “poor” in his report.

Watch above via CNN.