Former President Biden is moving to block the Trump administration from releasing audio recordings and transcripts of conversations with his ghostwriter, materials that became central to Special Counsel Robert Hur's investigation into his handling of classified documents.
The Justice Department confirmed Friday that it plans to turn over the redacted materials to Congress and the Heritage Foundation, a conservative group that filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit demanding access. But Biden intends to ask a court to stop the disclosure, according to a joint status report from prosecutors.
The tapes capture moments that defined Hur's damaging conclusions about the former president. In the recordings, Biden read classified notebook passages aloud to ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer and stated: "I just found all the classified stuff downstairs." Hur's investigation described Biden as a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory" and noted that memory lapses would complicate any effort to prove willful misconduct. Biden was ultimately not prosecuted.
Biden has consistently denied sharing classified information. His spokesperson told Politico that the former president "cooperated fully" with Hur's investigation but provided the recordings "on the condition that they would not be made public."
The Heritage Foundation, in its portion of Friday's filing, accused Biden's legal team of obstruction. The group pointed out that Biden opposed releasing even transcript portions matching "exact phrases quoted in the Hur Report" itself. Heritage also noted that Biden "waited well over a year to seek to intervene" in the case.
The Justice Department said it will not oppose Biden's intervention bid. However, Heritage Foundation lawyers signaled they will fight any attempt to keep the materials under wraps. Under a proposed timeline, if Biden files his court petition by Tuesday, the government will delay disclosure until June. Otherwise, prosecutors indicated they will release the files sooner.
The ghostwriter conversations represent the most direct evidence of Biden handling sensitive material after leaving office. Hur wrote that Biden read journal entries about classified information "nearly verbatim" at least three times during the 2017 sessions, before his presidency. During a 2023 interview with prosecutors, Biden's recollection of events proved significantly limited, according to the special counsel's report.
Author James Rodriguez: "Biden's last-minute court fight feels like closing the barn door after the horse is gone, but it signals how damaging these tapes could be politically."
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