FILE – Former President Joe Biden speaks to the South Carolina Democratic Occasion, Feb. 27, 2026, in Columbia, S.C.
Matt Kelley/AP
conceal caption
toggle caption
Matt Kelley/AP
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden sued the Justice Division on Tuesday in an effort to dam the discharge of audio recordings and transcripts of the previous president’s interview with a ghostwriter that have been obtained by the particular counsel who investigated his dealing with of categorised paperwork.
Biden’s attorneys stated in a lawsuit filed in Washington’s federal courtroom that the Justice Division plans to launch the information to Congress and a conservative group, the Heritage Basis, after the division had beforehand argued that they have been exempt from disclosure below the general public information legislation.
Biden’s attorneys argued that the disclosure would “represent an unwarranted invasion of President Biden’s privateness.”
“Each American, together with a sitting or former Vice President, has a proper to privateness within the private conversations he has inside his own residence,” his attorneys wrote. “And when the U.S. Division of Justice obtains that non-public data via a felony investigation, the Division bears a specific accountability to guard it from disclosure.”
At problem within the case are audio recordings and transcripts of Biden’s interviews at his residence in 2016 and 2017 with Mark Zwonitzer, who labored with Biden on his two memoirs. The information have been scrutinized by particular counsel Robert Hur as a part of his investigation into the president’s improper retention of categorised paperwork, from his time as a senator and as vice chairman.
Hur’s yearlong investigation led to a 345-page report that questioned Biden’s age and psychological competence however really helpful no felony fees towards the then-81-year-old. Hur stated he discovered inadequate proof to efficiently prosecute a case in courtroom.
Biden has individually fought the discharge of the audio of his interview with Hur. The Home in 2024 voted to carry Biden Lawyer Basic Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to show over that audio after the White Home exerted govt privilege, shielding it from Congress.
The transcripts of 5 hours of Biden interviews with federal prosecutors was launched that very same yr. Whereas Biden was adamant that he handled categorised data significantly, the transcript reveals that he was at instances fuzzy about dates and particulars and he stated he was unfamiliar with the paper path for a number of the delicate paperwork he dealt with.
Republicans have argued Biden was being given a cross by his personal Justice Division and that Trump had been unfairly victimized by prosecutors. Democrats, for his or her half, burdened Biden’s cooperation within the investigation and strongly contrasted that with the separate felony case towards Trump, who was accused of refusing to return categorised paperwork requested by the Nationwide Archives that he had at his Florida property.
