Biden Drops Lawsuit for Memoir Tapes After Court Loss

Biden’s legal team filed a notice of voluntary dismissal on Friday, just days after a divided three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected his attempt to keep dozens of hours of recordings and interview transcripts from public view, according to Emily Hallas writing in Washington Examiner. The materials were created during the production of his memoir, Promise Me, Dad.

The appellate panel concluded that Biden had failed to demonstrate sufficient grounds for withholding the requested materials from disclosure.

The recordings and accompanying transcripts have been at the center of prolonged legal disputes, with Biden attempting to prevent the Justice Department from making them public. His defense rested on claims that the materials contain personal information deserving privacy protections.

Biden’s attorneys maintained that all Americans, including current or former vice presidents, possess a right to privacy regarding personal conversations conducted in their own homes. They further argued that when the Justice Department obtains such private information through criminal investigations, it bears special responsibility to shield it from public release.

The Heritage Foundation initiated legal action demanding public access to these records after special counsel Robert Hur revealed in 2024 that Biden had disclosed classified information in the audio recordings and transcripts. Hur’s findings indicated that on multiple occasions, Biden read classified notes from national security meetings to his ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer, in near-verbatim fashion.

Hur secured the materials while investigating whether Biden had leaked classified information. During the probe, Zwonitzer informed the FBI that in 2023 he deleted several audio files from his interviews with Biden after becoming aware of Hur’s investigation. He cited concerns about potential hacking and the prospect of personal conversations being widely disseminated.

Zwonitzer also revealed to Hur’s investigators that Biden had informed him about discovering a classified document at his residence.

The special counsel ultimately decided against pursuing charges through the Justice Department, concluding that the former president would likely present successfully at trial as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.

Following the Heritage Foundation’s legal victory, the Justice Department could release the remaining materials as early as this weekend.

With information from Washington Examiner