The Justice Department will not prosecute U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland for contempt, according to a letter sent from the agency to House Speaker Mike Johnson Friday. 

The House voted Wednesday to hold Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over audio of President Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur.

"Consistent with this longstanding position and uniform practice, the Department has determined that the responses by Attorney General Garland to the subpoenas issued by the Committees did not constitute a crime, and accordingly the Department will not bring the congressional contempt citation before a grand jury or take any other action to prosecute the Attorney General," Assistant Attorney General Carlos Felipe Uriarte told Johnson in a letter.