Former President Biden is preparing to intervene in court to stop the release of recordings and transcripts of his conversations with ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer. The materials were obtained by Special Counsel Robert Hur during a classified-documents investigation. The Justice Department indicated in a joint status report filed Friday that it intends to disclose redacted versions of these records to Congress and the Heritage Foundation, which sued for them under FOIA.
The tapes are pivotal because they go to the heart of Hur's finding that Biden read classified notebook passages aloud to Zwonitzer. Hur also concluded that Biden's memory lapses would make proving willful misconduct more difficult. Biden has denied sharing classified information.
According to the joint status report, Biden "intends to seek to intervene to prevent any such disclosures." Politico reported Sunday that he is preparing to fight the release. The records include both redacted transcripts and audio recordings that played a key role in the investigation.
The Heritage Foundation's FOIA lawsuit and the Justice Department's planned disclosure create a legal clash over executive privilege and transparency. The outcome could set a precedent for how presidential communications are handled post-investigation.
Biden's legal team argues the release could violate privacy and privilege protections. The case adds another layer to the ongoing political and legal battles between the former president and the current administration.