Joe Biden's legal effort to prevent the Trump administration from releasing audio recordings he made with a ghostwriter has hit a dead end in federal court.
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled Friday that the public's interest in accessing the material trumped whatever privacy protections Biden could claim. The decision clears the way for a Heritage Foundation staffer to obtain the recordings, which were originally gathered during special counsel Robert Hur's inquiry into Biden's handling of classified documents during his time as a senator and vice president.
The tapes had been a flashpoint between branches of government for months. After Hur declined to prosecute, Republican lawmakers demanded access to the 2017 recordings and their transcripts. Biden's administration refused to hand them over, prompting congressional Republicans to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt.
When Donald Trump took office, his Justice Department authorized the release. Biden responded by filing suit last month to block the handoff to the Heritage Foundation requestor, framing it as a privacy violation. He argued the recordings contained sensitive personal discussions, including references to his son Beau's death.
Friedrich, a Trump appointee from 2017, disagreed. In her ruling, she noted that the materials had already been redacted and contained no sensitive health information or family references. "The materials contain no mention of highly sensitive topics like illness or death, nor do they mention any non-public persons, including members of Biden's family," the judge wrote.
Biden's team asked Friedrich to halt the release while pursuing an appeal, but the judge has already made her call. The Justice Department declined to comment on next steps.
Author James Rodriguez: "This is a straightforward win for transparency, but it also shows how hard even a former president has to fight when the executive branch flips against them."
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