Attorney General Merrick Garland wrote a Washington Post op-ed a couple of weeks ago, calling on congressional Republicans to start showing some partisan restraint. “Disagreements about politics are good for our democracy. They are normal,” the nation’s chief law enforcement official wrote. “But using conspiracy theories, falsehoods, violence and threats of violence to affect political outcomes is not normal.
Soon after, Hur wrapped up his work and released a report, including a transcript of an interview that Biden volunteered to participate in. In theory, that ended the story. In practice, however, there was one additional element that Republicans decided to pursue: the audio recording of the incumbent president’s Q&A with investigators.