In a recent development, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) has decided not to press charges against Attorney General Merrick Garland for contempt of Congress. This decision comes after the House of Representatives narrowly voted to punish Garland for his refusal to hand over audio tapes of President Joe Biden.

The Republican-controlled House approved the measure with a vote of 216-207 on Wednesday, urging the DoJ, which Garland oversees, to file criminal charges against the Attorney General. The incident stems from Garland's refusal to release interview tapes from a justice department investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents.

A senior DoJ official, Carlos Felipe Uriarte, sent a letter on Friday to Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, stating that the department found Garland's actions did not constitute a crime. The decision aligns with the department's longstanding policy of not pursuing charges when the President has employed his power of executive privilege to withhold requested materials.

Executive privilege, a legal doctrine, grants presidents the authority to conceal executive branch information from the other branches of government. President Biden recently invoked executive privilege to prevent congressional Republicans from obtaining tapes of his interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur, who had been investigating Biden's retention of classified documents when he served as vice-president. Biden later turned in the documents after they were discovered.

The White House defended its stance, claiming that Republicans had no legitimate need for the five hours of audio as the transcript had already been released. They argued that the Republican intention was to use the tapes for campaign attack ads against Biden as he seeks a second term as president.

The case against Biden's predecessor, former President Donald Trump, also involves the retention of government documents. However, it is a separate case being brought by a different special counsel. Trump is alleged to have attempted to obstruct justice by hiding classified memos after being ordered to hand them over to government archivists upon leaving office.

With the DoJ's decision not to pursue criminal charges against Attorney General Garland, the controversy surrounding the audio tapes appears to have reached a resolution.