A federal judge said Friday that the Justice Department (DOJ) can release audio recordings and transcripts of former President Biden to the conservative Heritage Foundation but must wait three weeks to allow an appeals court to review Biden\u2019s challenge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Judge Dabney Langhorne Friedrich denied Biden\u2019s attempt to block the release of his decade-old conversations with his memoir ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer, finding that the \u201csignificant public interest\u201d in the disclosure outweighed the former president\u2019s \u201csubstantial\u201d privacy claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She also asserted that the DOJ\u2019s \u201cextensive redactions\u201d have mitigated potential privacy concerns because there was now \u201cno information about Biden\u2019s family or other private persons\u201d in the materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd while public figures maintain certain privacy rights, the Department did not abuse its discretion in finding that nothing in the remaining Zwonitzer materials is sensitive enough to outweigh the public\u2019s unusually strong interest,\u201d Friedrich, a Trump appointee, wrote in a 26-page order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden\u2019s attorneys quickly filed a motion to pause the judge\u2019s order while the D.C. Court of Appeals considers the case. Friedrich partially granted the request, ordering the DOJ not take any action for three weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The legal battle stems from Biden\u2019s interviews with Zwonitzer in 2016 and 2017, which became a substantial part of former special counsel Robert Hur\u2019s probe into the former president\u2019s handling of classified documents after he left office as vice president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Justice Department, then under former Attorney General Merrick Garland, released transcripts of the recordings but refused to share the audio files, citing executive privilege exemptions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Heritage Foundation sued in 2024, arguing that the federal government was required to disclose the recordings and transcripts under the Freedom of Information Act. The group contended the matter was in the public interest because it focuses on \u201cissues surrounding President Biden\u2019s mental faculties and memory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hur\u2019s investigation concluded without any criminal charges, finding that while Biden \u201cwillfully\u201d kept the documents, a jury would likely find him \u201ca sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Trump\u2019s Justice Department later reversed course on the audio files, notifying Biden in February that it planned to release the materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden filed a separate lawsuit in D.C. Circuit Court in late May to stop the Heritage Foundation and the House Judiciary Committee from obtaining the records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DOJ attorneys told the judge in that case on Friday that it would not agree to defer the release to the Judiciary Committee until the appeal is resolved, \u201cgiven the uncertainty about how long such proceedings may last,\u201d but would comply with the 21-day pause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n