Joe Biden on Friday dropped a lawsuit in which he sought to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts of his interviews with a memoir ghostwriter, paving the way for the material to be released to a Republican-led congressional committee.
Biden’s attorneys filed the notice of voluntary dismissal less than a week after a divided panel of appeals court judges rejected his bid to block the material’s release. Biden could have petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene or asked for a rehearing by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The Appeals Court Ruling
In a 2-1 ruling on Monday, a three-judge panel from the circuit court found a “substantial” public interest in disclosing the material that Biden wants to keep under wraps. The panel had suspended its decision until Aug. 3 to allow more time for Biden to consider his appellate options.
Circuit Judge Florence Pan wrote a dissenting opinion in which she said Biden has shown a “substantial privacy interest” in keeping the material hidden.
The appeal was heard by D.C. Circuit Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan, Judge Gregory Katsas, and Judge Pan. Srinivasan was nominated by President Barack Obama, Katsas by President Donald Trump, and Pan by Biden.
The Recordings
Mark Zwonitzer, who worked with Biden on two memoirs — 2007’s “Promises to Keep” and 2017’s “Promise Me, Dad” — interviewed him at his home in 2016 and 2017. Biden’s lawyers say the conversations were candid, personal, and intended to remain private.
The recordings were obtained by special counsel Robert Hur, who investigated Biden’s handling of classified documents from his time as a senator from Delaware and as Obama’s vice president. Republicans in Congress demanded the material after Hur declined to file charges against the then-president.
The Legal Battle
Biden sued and sought an injunction to prevent the Justice Department under Trump from releasing the recordings to Congress and the conservative Heritage Foundation. The department previously argued that the recordings were exempt from disclosure under public records law.
Biden appealed after U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump nominee, ruled in June that the public interest in the material outweighed whatever privacy rights Biden had.
The Bottom Line
Joe Biden has dropped his lawsuit seeking to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts of his interviews with a memoir ghostwriter. The move comes after a federal appeals court ruled that the public interest in the material outweighs Biden’s privacy claims. The recordings, made in 2016 and 2017, were obtained by special counsel Robert Hur during his investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents. Republicans in Congress have demanded their release.
