Joe Biden sues US government

The former president is seeking to block the release of interviews with his ghostwriter

Former US President Joe Biden is suing the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in an effort to block the release of interviews he gave to his ghostwriter, which later became part of a special counsel investigation into the mishandling of classified documents.

According to the Daily Intelligencer, the records include 70 hours of audio recordings and transcripts of conversations between Biden and ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer, recorded while Zwonitzer was working on Biden’s 2017 memoir.

The recordings were obtained by special counsel Robert Hur, who was appointed to investigate whether Biden had unlawfully retained classified documents at his home after serving as vice president under Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017.

In May, the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act seeking access to the files. Biden’s lawyers argue that releasing them would violate his privacy.

“Every American, including a sitting or former vice president, has a right to privacy in the personal conversations he has within his own home,” the lawsuit said, according to the Washington Post.

Read more

In his final report released in 2024, Hur concluded that Biden had “willfully retained and disclosed” classified materials, including documents related to military policy in Afghanistan, but declined to recommend criminal charges.

Hur wrote that Biden’s memory appeared “significantly limited” during both the 2017 interviews with the ghostwriter and later interviews with the special counsel. He further argued that, if the case went to trial, Biden would likely present himself to a jury as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

Concerns about Biden’s declining health played a major role in the 2024 presidential campaign. He withdrew from the race following a disastrous televised debate with Donald Trump, who ultimately defeated Biden’s Democratic replacement, former Vice President Kamala Harris.