Joe Biden sues DOJ to block release of audio and transcripts in classified documents probe

WASHINGTON, DC: Former President Joe Biden has filed suit against the Justice Department to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts of his interview with a ghostwriter, obtained by the special counsel investigating his handling of classified documents.

Special Counsel Robert Hur was investigating Biden’s improper retention of classified documents from his time as a senator and as vice president when he obtained audio recordings and transcripts of the ex-president’s interview with Mark Zwonitzer.

Zwonitzer interviewed Biden at his home between 2016 and 2017 for his 2017 memoir 'Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose.'

Hur’s yearlong investigation resulted in a sweeping 345-page report that raised concerns about Joe Biden’s age and mental sharpness, but ultimately stopped short of recommending criminal charges against the then-81-year-old president.

Hur concluded that the evidence gathered would not be strong enough to secure a conviction in court.

Joe Biden’s suit claims release of recordings will be invasion of his privacy

Biden’s suit filed in Washington’s federal court on Tuesday, May 26, came after the DOJ informed the former president that it planned to release the recordings and transcripts to Congress and the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.

Biden’s lawyers argued that the disclosure would “constitute an unwarranted invasion of President Biden’s privacy.”

“Every American, including a sitting or former Vice President, has a right to privacy in the personal conversations he has within his own home,” his attorneys wrote.

“And when the US Department of Justice obtains that private information through a criminal investigation, the Department bears a particular responsibility to protect it from disclosure.”

The lawsuit also outlines a behind-the-scenes scramble between Biden’s legal team and the Justice Department in recent weeks, as both sides worked through possible redactions and other sensitive issues tied to the release of the audio recordings and transcripts.

While Justice Department officials and career attorneys under the Biden administration had long argued that releasing the materials would break with established department norms, Biden’s legal team claims the current DOJ quietly reversed that stance in February without offering any formal explanation.

Donald Trump fumes at Joe Biden’s suit

President Donald Trump was left fuming after reports of Biden suing his Department of Justice hit the headlines.

Trump wasted little time weighing in on the lawsuit Tuesday night, jumping onto social media to reshare an article about the case while adding his own sharp-edged commentary.

“A Crooked Politician!!!” the president wrote.

The recordings, which Hur said at the time revealed Biden as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory”, have long been sought by Trump’s Republican allies.

Trump’s administration previously made efforts to release the audio of Biden’s interview with Robert Hur in May 2025, but didn’t succeed.