Biden to Block Release of 70 Hours of Ghostwriter Audio

Former President Joe Biden plans to intervene in federal court to prevent the Justice Department from releasing approximately 70 hours of partially redacted audio recordings from his 2017 interviews with ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer. The recordings, created while working on Biden's memoir "Promise Me, Dad," surfaced during Special Counsel Robert Hur's investigation into Biden's retention of classified documents. Justice Department lawyers notified U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich on Friday that they anticipate Biden's legal action and have agreed to delay any disclosure until June 15 if he files by Tuesday.

The audio stems from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project, which seeks materials related to Hur's probe. The department intends to provide the redacted recordings and transcripts to the plaintiff as well as the House Judiciary Committee, which requested them in March. A Biden spokesperson confirmed Sunday that the former president intends to resist release to the public or lawmakers.

Hur's February 2024 report detailed how investigators recovered the recordings after Zwonitzer deleted some files upon learning of the...