{"id":5017,"date":"2026-07-21T14:37:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T14:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5017"},"modified":"2026-07-21T14:37:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T14:37:56","slug":"appeals-court-rejects-biden-bid-to-block-release-of-ghostwriter-recordings-used-in-special-counsel-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5017","title":{"rendered":"Appeals court rejects Biden bid to block release of ghostwriter recordings used in special counsel probe"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

WASHINGTON \u2013 Former President Joe Biden lost his bid Monday to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts of interviews with his longtime ghostwriter that were used in special counsel Robert Hur\u2019s investigation into Biden\u2019s unlawful hoarding of classified information.<\/p>\n

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A divided federal appeals court ruled the 46th president\u2019s privacy claims did not outweigh the \u201csubstantial\u201d public interest in the material, though it suspended its decision until Aug. 3 to allow the former chief executive to consider additional action.<\/p>\n

Following his vice presidency, Biden met multiple times with author Mark Zwonitzer, who ghostwrote Biden\u2019s 2017 memoir \u201cPromise Me Dad.\u201d<\/p>\n

The audio recordings of those interviews became part of Hur\u2019s investigation, with the special counsel noting in his February 2024 report that Biden showed \u201cdiminished faculties and faulty memory,\u201d and described the conversations as \u201cpainfully slow, with Mr. Biden struggling to remember events.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Hur declined to bring changes against Biden, in part because he believed the president would present himself to a jury as \u201ca sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Heritage Foundation initially sued the Justice Department in March 2024, seeking the transcripts and recordings under the Freedom of Information Act. <\/p>\n

Biden\u2019s attorneys have argued the conversations with Zwonitzer were candid and always intended to stay private.<\/p>\n

The panel rejected that argument, ruling the material \u201cbecame subject to FOIA\u2019s disclosure mandate when the Special Counsel obtained possession of them as part of his investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The court also ruled Biden hadn\u2019t shown sufficient evidence that he would \u201csuffer irreparable harm\u201d if the material was released.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe conclude that any remaining incursion on personal privacy from disclosure of the now-redacted materials likely does not outweigh the public interest in disclosure,\u201d read the majority opinion by D.C. Circuit Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan, a Barack Obama appointee, and Judge Gregory Katsas, appointed to the federal bench by President Trump.<\/p>\n

Judge Florence Pan, the lone Biden appointee on the panel, dissented, arguing Biden had demonstrated \u201csubstantial privacy interest\u201d in keeping the recordings and transcripts under wraps.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe conversations at issue took place in Biden\u2019s home,\u201d wrote Pan, \u201cand the recordings of them were obtained by the government in the course of a criminal investigation that did not lead to an indictment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The transcripts of Biden\u2019s interviews with Hur were released in March 2024 and showed the then-president struggling to remember key events, including which year his son Beau died of brain cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat month did Beau die? Oh, God, May 30 \u2014\u201c the transcript shows Biden asking.<\/p>\n

White House lawyer Rachel Cotton and an unidentified man then reminded Biden that his son died in 2015.<\/p>\n

\u201cWas it 2015 he had died?\u201d Biden responded.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt was May of 2015,\u201d he was told.<\/p>\n

The release of the transcript contradicted Biden\u2019s description of the interview, in which he claimed Hur inappropriately brought up the death of his son.<\/p>\n

The political fallout raised more questions about Biden\u2019s mental capacity for the job, as he was running for a second term at the time.<\/p>\n

Biden withdrew from the 2024 race four months later, following a disastrous debate against Donald Trump that caused a mutiny in the Democratic ranks.<\/p>\n

Read more Iran executes two young men for offering help to fleeing anti-regime protesters<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former President Joe Biden lost his bid Monday to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts of interviews with his longtime ghostwriter that were used in special counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into Biden’s unlawful hoarding of classified information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nAppeals court rejects Biden bid to block release of ghostwriter recordings used in special counsel probe - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5017\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Appeals court rejects Biden bid to block release of ghostwriter recordings used in special counsel probe - 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