Appeals court rejects Biden bid to block release of biographer tapes
WASHINGTON, DC: In a major setback to former President Joe Biden in the biographer tapes case, the appeals court on Monday, July 20, rejected Biden's bid to block the release of conversations he had with his biographer roughly a decade ago.
The Biden tape recording case involves a legal battle over the release of audio recordings and transcripts from 2016 and 2017 interviews between Joe Biden and his memoir ghostwriter.
Court denies request to keep DoJ from releasing tape
In a 2-1 verdict on Monday night, the court denied a bid from former President Joe Biden to keep the Justice Department from giving a conservative think tank redacted transcripts and audio recordings of conversations he had with his biographer around 2016-17.
However, the court stayed the written decision until August 3 to allow further appeals.
A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected Biden's attempt to stop the Heritage Foundation from getting the material.
Conservative groups and House Republicans have sought the audio under the Freedom of Information Act to examine Biden's memory and mental acuity.
Court says disclosure would advance public interest at stake
Judges Sri Srinivasan and Gregory Katsas said in an unsigned opinion, "We conclude that Biden has not shown a likelihood that the requested materials must be withheld from disclosure." Judge Florence Pan dissented.
"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," Srinivasan and Katsas found.
"In that regard, although there is generally a substantial privacy interest in not being identified as the target of an investigation that results in no charges, ... DOJ announced the Special Counsel's appointment and the purpose of his investigation, and the Special Counsel Report describes at length that Biden was investigated for allegedly retaining and disclosing classified materials."
They wrote that "because the requested materials would bear on understanding and assessing the Special Counsel's investigation and his ultimate decision, disclosure of the materials 'is likely to advance' the public interest at stake."
Biden spokesperson argues conversation is private
In response to the DC Circuit's decision, TJ Ducklo, a spokesperson for Biden, said, "President Biden's conversations for a book a decade ago that discussed his late son are private, and were provided to the Department of Justice on the express condition they stay that way.”
“Reversing course and making them public is just the latest example of this Administration weaponizing the DOJ for political retribution,” Ducklo added.
On July 10, the three-judge panel agreed to issue an administrative injunction stopping the release of the material to the organization for 10 days.
