Former President Joe Biden filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice to block it from releasing audio recordings of his conversations with a biographer. The lawsuit comes as the DOJ intended to release the materials to the House Judiciary Committee and conservative organization The Heritage Foundation in June.
The audio recordings from 2016 and 2017 were assessed by former special counsel Robert Hur as part of his investigation into Biden’s handling of classified records. While Hur concluded that Biden retained classified materials, no criminal charges were filed.
“Every American, including a sitting or former Vice President, has a right to privacy in the personal conversations he has within his own home,” the lawsuit reads. “And when the U.S. Department of Justice obtains that private information through a criminal investigation, the department bears a particular responsibility to protect it from disclosure.”
According to the filing, releasing the files would “constitute an unwarranted invasion of President Biden’s privacy.”
“The Department’s willful and intentional disclosure of records pertaining to and about President Biden would adversely affect him, including in the form of costs to respond to the disclosure and other financial losses,” it adds.
Hur also analyzed separate audio recordings from 2023 surrounding Biden’s mental competence. The former White House administration admitted in 2024 that the transcript contained “minor inconsistencies” and removed “filler words.”
“Aside from minor inconsistencies (such as repeated words or the use of filler words such as ‘um’), the audio recording of the interview accurately reflects the words spoken during the interview,” the filing reads.
