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Biden Drops Legal Fight Over Audio Tapes From Hur Investigation

The legal fight over audio recordings of former President Joe Biden's interviews with his memoir ghostwriter has ended, clearing the way for the Justice Department to release the material to the House Judiciary…

Andrew PowellJul 27, 20263 min read

Joe Biden Politics Robert Hur U.S. News

The legal fight over audio recordings of former President Joe Biden's interviews with his memoir ghostwriter has ended, clearing the way for the Justice Department to release the material to the House Judiciary Committee.

According to Fox News, Biden's attorneys moved last week to dismiss their case seeking to block the release of the recordings and transcripts.

They noted that Biden is now a private citizen and is not seeking public office.

Obama-appointed Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia accepted the voluntary dismissal Monday.

The recordings were made during Biden's 2016 and 2017 conversations with Mark Zwonitzer, who worked as the ghostwriter for Biden's memoir "Promise Me, Dad."

Special counsel Robert Hur's team obtained the recordings and prepared transcripts while investigating Biden's handling of classified documents.

The Justice Department can now release the audio and transcripts to the House Judiciary Committee.

Hur's investigation

examined Biden's handling of classified materials from his time as vice president during the Obama administration and as a U.S. senator from Delaware.

Hur ultimately declined to recommend criminal charges, concluding prosecutors could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Biden knowingly retained or disclosed classified information.

Hur's report also said Biden could be viewed by a jury as a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory," rather than someone who intentionally violated classified documents laws.

The Heritage Foundation had pursued the recordings and transcripts for more than two years through Freedom of Information Act requests. The conservative think tank argued that the public had a right to review material that played a role in Hur's decision.

A previous court ruling had favored the Heritage Foundation after Biden's attorneys sought an emergency order to prevent the recordings from being released.

"We conclude that any remaining incursion on personal privacy from disclosure of the now-redacted materials likely does not outweigh the public interest in disclosure," a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit wrote.

Hur's report repeatedly referred to Biden's recorded conversations with Zwonitzer, describing some exchanges as "painfully slow."

The report's descriptions of Biden's memory and recall also became part of wider scrutiny over his cognitive abilities while he was seeking re-election.

The Justice Department reversed its earlier position in February, announcing plans to disclose redacted versions of the recordings and transcripts to the plaintiffs and the House Judiciary Committee.

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