Former President Joe Biden filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday seeking to prevent the Justice Department from releasing audio recordings and transcripts from his conversations with a ghostwriter, materials that were collected during a special counsel investigation into his handling of classified documents.
The legal filing in Washington’s federal court claims the Justice Department intends to provide these materials to Congress and the Heritage Foundation, a conservative organization, despite previously maintaining the files were protected from public disclosure under records laws.
Biden’s legal team contends the release would “constitute an unwarranted invasion of President Biden’s 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,” his attorneys wrote. “And when the U.S. Department of Justice obtains that private information through a criminal investigation, the Department bears a particular responsibility to protect it from disclosure.”
The disputed materials include audio recordings and written records from Biden’s conversations at his residence during 2016 and 2017 with Mark Zwonitzer, who assisted Biden with writing his two memoirs. Special counsel Robert Hur examined these files during his investigation into the president’s inappropriate retention of classified materials from his tenure as a senator and vice president.
Hur’s year-long investigation resulted in a 345-page report that raised questions about Biden’s age and mental fitness but concluded no criminal charges should be filed against the then-81-year-old. Hur determined there was inadequate evidence to successfully pursue prosecution in court.
Biden has also challenged separately the release of audio from his interview with Hur. In 2024, the House voted to find Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for declining to provide that audio after the White House claimed executive privilege, protecting it from congressional review.
Transcripts from five hours of Biden’s interviews with federal investigators were made public that same year. Although Biden insisted he handled classified information responsibly, the transcript revealed he was sometimes unclear about dates and specifics and stated he was unfamiliar with the documentation process for some sensitive materials he managed.
Republicans have claimed Biden received preferential treatment from his own Justice Department and that Trump faced unfair treatment from prosecutors. Democrats emphasized Biden’s cooperation with the investigation and drew sharp contrasts with the separate criminal case involving Trump, who was charged with refusing to return classified documents requested by the National Archives that he kept at his Florida property.
