Recordings from former President Joe Biden's interviews with his memoir ghostwriter have been released to the public after a months-long legal battle, providing new insight into Special Counsel Robert Hur's classified documents investigation.
The tapes, obtained through FOIA requests by the Oversight Project, include more than 70 hours of recordings from Biden's 2016 and 2017 conversations with Mark Zwonitzer, who helped write Biden's book "Promise Me, Dad." The recordings were previously used by Hur during his investigation into Biden's handling of classified materials dating from his time as vice president under Obama and as a U.S. senator from Delaware.
Hur declined to pursue criminal charges against Biden, concluding that prosecutors could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he willfully retained or disclosed the classified material.
What the Left Is Saying
Democratic allies of the former president have pointed to Hur's decision not to file charges as definitive vindication. They argue that the special counsel conducted an exhaustive investigation and ultimately determined there was insufficient evidence for prosecution, regardless of what the tapes may show about Biden's demeanor or recall abilities.
Supporters note that no criminal charges were filed against Biden, drawing a contrast with other classified documents cases. They maintain that the decision reflects a thorough application of the law rather than any political consideration.
The White House has not issued a direct statement on the tape release, though allies have characterized the prolonged legal fight over the recordings as an attempt to relitigate a closed investigation.
What the Right Is Saying
Conservative critics say the tapes raise fundamental questions about Biden's decision-making during his time in office. The Oversight Project, which fought for more than two years to obtain the materials through FOIA requests, published the recordings and argues they undermine any narrative that Biden appropriately handled classified information.
"Joe Biden didn't want these tapes to come out," Jeff Clark, Vice President of Litigation at the Oversight Project, told Fox News Digital. "But now they have — after two years of painful delay. Robert Hur's and Merrick Garland's decision to give Biden a free pass for keeping and disclosing classified information must now be reexamined from top to bottom."
Conservatives point to specific language in Hur's report describing Biden as potentially appearing to juries as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory" — a characterization they argue the tapes now substantiate. They are calling for renewed scrutiny of whether the decision not to prosecute was properly reached.
What the Numbers Show
The released materials include more than 70 hours of recordings from interviews conducted in 2016 and 2017, according to the Oversight Project. Biden's attorneys had fought the release through federal court, abandoning their lawsuit last Friday after a judge accepted the withdrawal Monday.
Hur's report, issued earlier this year, documented that "Biden's memory was significantly limited, both during his recorded interviews with the ghostwriter in 2017 and in his interview with our office in 2023." The special counsel noted Biden appeared to speak in a manner he described as "painfully slow" during conversations with Zwonitzer.
The investigation examined classified documents found at Biden's personal residence in Wilmington, Delaware, and at his former office in Washington. No criminal charges were filed against the former president or any members of his family related to these findings.
The Bottom Line
The release of the ghostwriter tapes marks the end of a two-year legal dispute over public access to materials central to understanding how Hur reached his decision not to prosecute Biden on classified documents charges. Both sides are now using the recordings to reinforce their preferred narratives about the investigation's outcome.
What happens next likely depends on whether congressional Republicans choose to pursue additional oversight hearings based on the new materials, and whether any fresh legal challenges emerge over the documents themselves. The tapes do not appear to contain new evidence regarding the underlying classified material handling — but they may shift public perception of what Biden told investigators about his own actions.