Former US President Joe Biden Sues DOJ To Stop Release Of Controversial Interview Recordings

Former US President Joe Biden has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice in an attempt to stop the release of interview recordings that later became part of the special counsel investigation into his handling of classified documents.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, centres on roughly 70 hours of audio recordings and transcripts from interviews Biden conducted with ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer while working on his 2017 memoir, 'Promise Me, Dad'.

The recordings, made in 2016 and 2017, are now being sought by the House Judiciary Committee and the Heritage Foundation through Freedom of Information Act requests. Biden and his legal team have repeatedly argued that the material is protected from disclosure under FOIA exemptions. The legal challenge comes after the Justice Department informed Biden earlier this year that it planned to release the material with redactions unless blocked by the court.

Biden Challenges DOJ Reversal Over Interview Files

According to the lawsuit, as per reports, Biden's legal team argued that the Justice Department had dramatically changed its position under the Trump administration regarding the release of the recordings and transcripts. The filing stated that in February 2026, the department informed Biden that it intended to hand over the material to plaintiffs involved in the FOIA lawsuits.

'In February 2026, without any formal explanation for its about-face, the Department notified President Biden of its intention to release the audio recordings and transcripts to the plaintiffs in the FOIA Action,' the motion states.

The legal dispute focuses on interviews Biden gave to author Mark Zwonitzer while preparing his memoir. Those interviews later became part of special counsel Robert Hur's investigation into whether Biden mishandled classified documents after serving as vice president.

Three separate Freedom of Information Act lawsuits had previously been filed seeking access to the material. One of those cases involved the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Earlier this month, Justice Department lawyers told a federal judge that they intended to release the files, with redactions, to both the House Judiciary Committee and the Heritage Foundation on June 15 unless the court intervened.

Biden had previously asserted executive privilege over the recordings in 2024 after House Republicans attempted to obtain them. During his presidency, the Justice Department had also rejected requests from Republican lawmakers seeking access to audio from Biden's interview with Hur.

The controversy surrounding the recordings has remained politically charged ever since classified documents were discovered at Biden's Wilmington, Delaware, home and at his former office at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, D.C., in late 2022 and early 2023.

In response to those discoveries, then Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Robert Hur as special counsel in January 2023 to investigate whether Biden improperly retained sensitive government material.

Classified Documents Probe Became Major Political Flashpoint

Hur's investigation lasted roughly a year and involved interviews with 147 people, including Biden himself. In February 2024, Hur released a 345-page report concluding that although 'Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen,' there was not enough evidence to justify criminal charges.

The recordings at the centre of Biden's lawsuit became especially controversial after portions of Biden's interview with Hur were later obtained and published by Axios in May 2025. Even after Hur released his findings, the Justice Department during Biden's presidency continued resisting Republican demands to release the complete audio files.

The investigation into Biden unfolded alongside a separate classified documents case involving President Donald Trump. That inquiry began after the Justice Department searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in August 2022 and seized documents carrying classified markings.

Trump later faced dozens of federal charges accusing him of mishandling classified material. However, those charges were dismissed in July 2024 after a judge ruled that special counsel Jack Smith had been unlawfully appointed.

In February this year, the same judge also blocked the release of the section of Smith's report dealing with Trump's alleged handling of sensitive documents. The developments in both cases have fuelled political arguments over how classified documents investigations have been handled involving current and former presidents.

Late Tuesday night, Trump publicly reacted to Biden's lawsuit in a post on Truth Social, calling Biden a 'Crooked Politician'.

Biden's lawsuit now sets up another legal fight over access to records tied to one of the most politically sensitive investigations of his presidency. With the Justice Department preparing to release the recordings next month unless blocked, the court battle could determine whether the long-disputed audio files are finally made public.