Appeals court temporarily blocks release of Biden biographer tapes
8 reported
A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked the Justice Department from releasing redacted transcripts and audio recordings of conversations former President Joe Biden had with his biographer to the Heritage Foundation. A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an administrative injunction stopping the release for 10 days. The court stated the purpose is to allow time to consider the emergency motion and should not be seen as a ruling on the merits. The recordings date to 2016 and 2017, when Biden spoke with biographer Mark Zwonitzer for his memoir "Promise Me, Dad." The Heritage Foundation sought the material after former special counsel Robert Hur's investigation into Biden's handling of sensitive government records, which did not result in charges. Biden's lawyers argued the disclosure would be harmful, while the Justice Department said the public has an interest in seeing the information Hur relied on.
What’s reported
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an administrative injunction blocking the release of Biden's transcripts and audio recordings to the Heritage Foundation.
The injunction expires at 11:59 p.m. on July 20.
The recordings are from 2016 and 2017, when Biden spoke with biographer Mark Zwonitzer for his memoir "Promise Me, Dad."
The Heritage Foundation filed a public records request after former special counsel Robert Hur's 2024 report referenced the conversations, describing Biden's "diminished faculties and faulty memory."
The Justice Department initially withheld the material under FOIA exemptions but later said it intended to provide it to Congress and the Heritage Foundation after President Trump returned to the White House.
A federal judge, Dabney Friedrich, previously rejected Biden's request to block disclosure but agreed to a three-week stop that was set to expire at 5 p.m. Friday.
Biden's lawyers argued the conversations were private and never intended for a wider audience, and that there is no immediate need for the Heritage Foundation to access the material.
The Justice Department argued releasing the materials would allow the public to assess the persuasiveness of Hur's determinations.
Key figures
Joe Biden, former president
Mark Zwonitzer, biographer
Robert Hur, former special counsel
Dabney Friedrich, federal judge
Sources: CBS News
