Joe Biden, the former U.S. President, has initiated legal action against the Justice Department in an attempt to halt the release of his private discussions with his memoir’s ghostwriter.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, is a response to a 2024 Freedom of Information Act request by the conservative Heritage Foundation. The group later filed a separate lawsuit seeking access to Biden’s remarks to Mark Zwonitzer during the creation of “Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose.”
The Heritage Foundation also requested records used by former special counsel Robert Hur in his 2023 report on Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents. Audio from Hur’s interview reportedly confirmed memory lapses that the White House had previously denied, though Hur ultimately chose not to pursue criminal charges against Biden.
Initially, the Justice Department refused to release the requested materials, citing them as exempt from disclosure. However, after President Donald Trump was back at the White House in his second term, the Department changed its position, as noted in the lawsuit filed by Biden’s attorney, Amy Jeffress.
In February, without providing a formal explanation, the Department informed Biden of its plan to release the recordings and transcripts to the plaintiffs. Earlier this month, the Justice Department informed Biden that it would release the materials, with limited redactions, to the Heritage plaintiffs and Congress on June 15.
Biden’s lawsuit argues that the personal information should be exempt from disclosure under FOIA laws. “Every American, including a sitting or former Vice President, has a right to privacy in the personal conversations he has within his own home,” Jeffress wrote in the lawsuit.
Trump Responds
Trump took to his Truth Social and responded with “A Crooked Politician!!!” remark to the news.
Biden Cognitive Debate Rekindled
This lawsuit comes amid renewed debates over Biden’s cognitive state during his final year in office, following the public release of audio recordings from his 2023 interview with special counsel Robert Hur.
Previously, Biden dismissed Trump’s allegations about his mental health and use of an autopen as a political distraction. Trump had launched a probe into whether Biden’s aides concealed cognitive decline and improperly used an autopen to sign official documents. Biden responded that the claims were aimed at diverting attention from Republican-backed legislation affecting programs like Medicaid. He also noted that autopen use for official documents is a longstanding, court-approved White House practice dating back to Thomas Jefferson.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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