Former President Joe Biden filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department on Tuesday, asking a federal judge to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts from his private interviews with the ghostwriter of his 2017 memoir.
The case centers on conversations Biden had with author Mark Zwonitzer while working on the book Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose. The book focused on a very difficult period in Biden’s life — the year following the death of his son Beau in 2015.
The dispute began with a 2024 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from the conservative Heritage Foundation. The group wanted the recordings because they were used as part of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s 2023 investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents. Hur’s report described Biden as “painfully slow” with noticeable memory problems. The audio reportedly confirmed some of those issues.
For months, the Justice Department had refused to release the materials, saying they were exempt from disclosure. However, under President Donald Trump’s second term, the department changed its position. Biden’s lawyers say the DOJ notified them in February of its plan to release the audio and transcripts. On May 5, the department confirmed it would hand over the materials — with some redactions — to the Heritage Foundation and Congress on June 15.
In the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., Biden’s attorney Amy Jeffress argued that the recordings contain deeply personal information and should remain private.
“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.
The lawsuit emphasizes that Biden’s talks with Zwonitzer covered highly emotional topics from one of the most painful times in his personal and political life.
A Justice Department spokesperson pushed back strongly against Biden’s effort to stop the release.
“This is the most transparent Department of Justice in history,” the spokesperson said. “We will fight to ensure the American people can hear these recordings and draw their own conclusions about the former President’s mental acuity before he sought the presidency.”
The spokesperson claimed the previous administration had tried to hide evidence of Biden’s cognitive decline dating back to 2016.
Former President Trump reacted on Truth Social, calling Biden “a Crooked Politician.”
Without a court order blocking the release, the audio and transcripts are still scheduled to become public on June 15.
The case raises important questions about the balance between government transparency and an individual’s right to privacy, especially for former presidents.
