In a significant development, Joe Biden has decided to discontinue his legal battle to prevent the release of audio recordings and transcripts from interviews conducted with a ghostwriter prior to his presidency. This move is set to facilitate the dissemination of the material to a congressional committee led by Republicans.
Biden’s legal team submitted a notice of voluntary dismissal shortly after a split decision by appeals court judges that denied his attempt to suppress the release. Biden had the option to appeal to the Supreme Court or request a rehearing by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit but chose to withdraw the lawsuit instead.
The three-judge panel from the circuit court, in a 2-1 decision, emphasized the “substantial” public interest in making the material available. The decision was temporarily suspended until August 3, allowing Biden to explore further legal options. Circuit Judge Florence Pan dissented, asserting that Biden demonstrated a “substantial privacy interest” in keeping the recordings confidential.
The panel included D.C. Circuit Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, Judge Gregory Katsas, nominated by President Donald Trump, and Judge Pan, a Biden nominee. The diversity in nominations underscored the bipartisan nature of the panel.
Mark Zwonitzer, the ghostwriter who collaborated with Biden on his memoirs, 2007’s “Promises to Keep” and 2017’s “Promise Me, Dad,” conducted the interviews in 2016 and 2017. Biden’s legal representatives argue that these sessions were meant to be private and candid.
The recordings came into the possession of special counsel Robert Hur, who was investigating Biden’s handling of classified documents during his tenure as a senator and as vice president. Following Hur’s decision not to press charges, Republican members of Congress insisted on accessing the recordings.
Initially, Biden sued to prevent the Justice Department under Trump from releasing the recordings to Congress and the Heritage Foundation. The department had previously claimed the recordings were exempt from public records law.
The legal saga began when U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, appointed by Trump, concluded in June that public interest outweighed Biden’s privacy rights, prompting Biden’s initial appeal.
