Former President Joe Biden filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to block the Justice Department from releasing audio recordings and transcripts of private interviews tied to the federal investigation into his handling of classified documents.
The recordings stem from conversations Biden had in 2016 and 2017 with writer Mark Zwonitzer, who was assisting with the former president’s memoir. According to the lawsuit, the interviews included deeply personal discussions that took place in the aftermath of the death of Biden’s son, Beau, and during a period when Biden was considering another presidential campaign.
Biden’s legal team argues that the Justice Department’s decision to release the materials represents a major departure from long standing protections surrounding sensitive investigative records. The lawsuit contends that disclosing the recordings would violate federal privacy laws and expose personal information collected during a criminal investigation that ultimately resulted in no charges.
The Justice Department informed Biden earlier this month that it intends to release the material on June 15 to both the Republican led House Judiciary Committee and the conservative Heritage Foundation, which previously filed a public records request seeking access to the recordings.
The recordings were originally obtained during Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into whether Biden improperly retained classified documents after serving as vice president. Hur concluded in 2024 that Biden had handled sensitive materials carelessly but determined that criminal charges were not warranted.
At the center of the dispute is the Justice Department’s reversal from its earlier position under then Attorney General Merrick Garland. During the Biden administration, department officials rejected requests to release the recordings, arguing that making them public would resemble exposing the private diary entries or personal communications of someone who had never been charged with a crime.
Now, under President Donald Trump, the Justice Department says the public has a right to review the material. A department spokesperson accused Biden’s former administration of concealing recordings that they claim reveal signs of cognitive decline years before his presidency. The department said it intends to provide the material with limited redactions and described the release as part of a broader push for transparency.
Biden’s attorneys rejected that argument, calling the decision arbitrary and politically motivated. The lawsuit claims the administration is using congressional oversight requests as a mechanism to bypass federal restrictions governing public records disclosures.
The House Judiciary Committee has argued that the recordings are relevant to its investigation into what Republicans describe as the politicization of the Justice Department during the Biden administration. Biden’s lawyers countered that the interviews took place years before the special counsel inquiry and therefore have little connection to the committee’s stated purpose.
