Releasing an audio recording of a special counsel’s interview with President Joe Biden could spur deepfakes and disinformation that trick Americans, the Justice Department said, conceding the U.S. government could not stop the misuse of artificial intelligence ahead of this year’s election.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) pushed back against the release of audio recordings of President Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur, citing concerns that “deep fakes” could emerge.

DOJ argued, in a Friday night filing, that if the audio were released, it could end up being altered and passed off as an “authentic” recording which would be shared widely. 

The Justice Department is using the Biden administration’s invocation of executive privilege to fight a lawsuit by multiple parties that seek to gain access to the audio from President Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur.

The House Judiciary Committee advanced a resolution to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress over the Justice Department’s failure to produce the subpoenaed audio recording of President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur. 

The House Judiciary Committee considered a resolution to hold the attorney general in contempt during a mark-up session Thursday. The vote advances the measure for a full floor vote. 

The Justice Department on Monday blasted Republicans’ effort to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt over his refusal to turn over unredacted materials related to the special counsel probe into President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents.

In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, the Justice Department rejected the demand from House Republicans that the agency turn over the full audio of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s hourslong interviews with Biden and his ghostwriter. Republicans had given the Justice Department until Monday to provide the audio.

The Justice Department urged House Republicans to “avoid conflict” in a brewing battle after they threatened the possibility of contempt proceedings in their efforts to gain information on special counsel Robert Hur’s probe of President Biden’s handling of classified records. 

The Justice Department is refusing to provide the House Judiciary and Oversight committees with the audio file of then-special counsel Robert Hur‘s interview with President Joe Biden over his handling of classified documents, claiming the committees’ request to receive the file is not in the spirit of “legitimate oversight.”

House Republicans are threatening to hold U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress if he doesn’t hand over material from the Justice Department’s recent investigation of President Joe Biden.

In a letter to Garland on Monday, House Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) demanded the Justice Department hand over audio of former special counsel Robert Hur interviewing Biden about his mishandling of classified documents.

When special counsel Robert Hur released his report last month explaining why he wouldn’t charge President Joe Biden with mishandling classified documents, his claim that Biden displayed a “poor memory” and “diminished faculties” in their interview received enormous attention.

But now, the full transcripts of Hur’s interviews with Biden have been released — and they make Hur’s claims about Biden’s memory appear cherry-picked and exaggerated.