Biden Moves to Block Release of Ghostwriter Tapes
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- President Biden is preparing to ask a court for an injunction to block the release of his ghostwriter tapes, which were obtained in a classified‑documents investigation.
- The Department of Justice filed a joint status report saying it intends to disclose redacted transcripts and audio recordings to Congress and the Heritage Foundation under the Freedom of Information Act.
- Special Counsel Robert Hur described Biden as a "sympathetic, well‑meaning, elderly man with a poor memory" and noted that Biden read classified notebook passages "nearly verbatim" several times, including saying "I just found all the classified stuff downstairs."
- The Heritage Foundation accused Biden’s legal team of stonewalling, saying he opposed the release even of transcript portions that matched exact phrases in Hur’s report and that he waited over a year to intervene.
- TJ Ducklo, Biden’s spokesperson, said Biden cooperated fully with the special counsel, that the tapes serve no public interest, and framed the dispute as political rather than a transparency issue.
- The DOJ warned that if Biden files an injunction request by Tuesday, it will postpone the release until June; otherwise it intends to release the material sooner.
Why it matters: If a court grants Biden’s injunction, the DOJ’s scheduled disclosure to Congress and the Heritage Foundation will be delayed, preserving Biden’s control over the material and limiting immediate political fallout. If denied, the recordings will be released as planned, exposing Biden’s statements about classified documents and his reported memory lapses.
