President Trump responds to Biden lawsuit over Justice Department interview recording
Donald Trump answered a question about Joe Biden’s lawsuit against the Justice Department to block the release of a tape interview.
Former President Joe Biden has dropped a lawsuit seeking to block the public release of audio recordings of interviews he gave with memoir ghostwriters, clearing the way for the materials to be released to a Republican-led House committee.
Biden’s lawyers filed a notice of voluntary termination in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on July 25, days after a divided federal appeals court denied his request to keep the recordings and transcripts private, The Hill and NBC4 Washington reported.
The filing ends Biden’s legal challenge after a court ruled there was a substantial public interest in disclosing the information.
The decision comes after months of litigation over recordings obtained during Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents. Mr. Xu declined to file criminal charges against Mr. Biden in 2024, but Republicans later sought access to the interview materials.
Biden’s lawyers had argued that the recordings were of private conversations at his home and that making them public would be an unwarranted invasion of privacy. Biden chose to dismiss the lawsuit instead of pursuing additional appeals, including one to the Supreme Court.
Court of Appeal upholds disclosure
The voluntary firings came less than a week after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in favor of Biden, 2-1.
In the majority opinion, Chief Justice Shri Srinivasan and Justice Gregory Katsas concluded that remaining privacy concerns do not outweigh the public’s interest in releasing the redacted material.
“We conclude that the public interest in disclosure does not outweigh the potential for a residual invasion of individual privacy by disclosing the currently redacted material,” the judges wrote.
Judge Florence Pan dissented, writing that Biden demonstrated a “significant privacy interest” because the conversations took place at his home and were obtained during a criminal investigation that did not result in any charges.
Memoir interview recording
The recordings come from interviews Biden gave with ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer in 2016 and 2017 while writing his memoir, “Dad, Promise Me.” Mr. Zwonitzer also worked with Mr. Biden on his 2007 memoir, “Promises to Keep.”
Federal investigators later obtained the recordings during an investigation into Mr. Hsu’s retention of classified documents from Mr. Biden’s time as senator and vice president. Mr. Xu refused to press charges, but Republicans in Congress asked for the documents after the investigation concluded.
Legal battle over FOIA request
The case began when the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, sought the recordings under the Freedom of Information Act and later sued to have them released.
In June, U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled that Biden’s privacy interests, while legitimate, outweighed the public interest in government transparency. She also found that the Department of Justice’s redactions adequately protected sensitive personal information.
Biden appealed the ruling, but his release was temporarily blocked while the case progressed through court. Friday’s denial ends the appeal and allows the recordings and recordings to be turned over under the court’s order.
Reporter Anthony Thompson can be reached at ajthompson@usatodayco.com or X @athompsonUSAT.
