Former US President Joe Biden has initiated legal action against the Department of Justice (DOJ) in an effort to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts from interviews he conducted with a ghostwriter. These materials were collected during the special counsel investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents.
Lawsuit Filed in Federal Court
The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in federal court in Washington, D.C. It challenges the DOJ's plan to provide the materials to Congress and the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. This move reverses the department's earlier stance that the files were exempt from disclosure under public records law.
According to the Associated Press, Biden's attorneys argue that releasing the recordings would constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy. They stated, 'Every American, including a sitting or former Vice President, has a right to privacy in the personal conversations he has within his own home. When the US Department of Justice obtains that private information through a criminal investigation, the Department bears a particular responsibility to protect it.'
Content of the Recordings
At the heart of the dispute are recordings and transcripts of conversations between Biden and Mark Zwonitzer, the ghostwriter who collaborated with him on two memoirs. Special counsel Robert Hur obtained these files during a yearlong investigation into Biden's retention of classified documents from his tenure as a senator and vice president. Hur's investigation produced a 345-page report that recommended no criminal charges against the then-81-year-old, citing insufficient evidence for a successful prosecution. However, the report drew widespread attention for its pointed questions about Biden's age and mental acuity.
Ongoing Battle Over Disclosure
This lawsuit represents the latest chapter in a protracted struggle over public access to materials from the investigation. In 2024, the House voted to hold then-Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress after the White House invoked executive privilege to block the release of a separate audio recording: Biden's interview with Hur himself. Transcripts of that five-hour session were ultimately released, revealing a president who, while insisting he took classified material seriously, was at times vague on dates, details, and the paper trail surrounding sensitive documents.
The case has divided along partisan lines. Republicans argue that Biden received preferential treatment from a Justice Department run by his own administration and draw comparisons to the criminal case against Donald Trump, who was accused of refusing to return classified documents to the National Archives. Democrats counter that Biden's full cooperation with investigators stands in sharp contrast to Trump's conduct.
