Key facts
- A U.S. appeals court rejected President Joe Biden's bid to block the release of memoir ghostwriter recordings.
- The court ruled that the public interest in disclosure outweighs Biden's privacy concerns, even with redactions.
- The recordings were obtained by special counsel Robert Hur during an investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents.
- Biden's lawyers argued the conversations were private and candid.
- A dissenting judge argued Biden has a substantial privacy interest in keeping the material private.
- The court suspended its decision until August 3 to allow for a potential further appeal.
A U.S. appeals court has rejected President Joe Biden's attempt to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts from interviews he conducted with a memoir ghostwriter. The divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 that there is a "substantial" public interest in disclosing the material, even with redactions to protect Biden's privacy.
The ruling stated that any remaining incursion on personal privacy likely does not outweigh the public interest in disclosure. The recordings stem from interviews conducted by Mark Zwonitzer in 2016 and 2017 while working on Biden's books. Biden's legal team argued that the conversations were personal and intended to remain private.
Special counsel Robert Hur obtained these recordings during his investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents from his time as a senator and vice president. Republicans in Congress had demanded the material after Hur declined to file charges against Biden. The court has suspended its decision until August 3 to allow Biden more time to consider a further appeal.
In a dissenting opinion, Judge Florence Pan, nominated by Biden, argued that the former president has a "substantial privacy interest" in keeping the material private, noting the conversations took place in his home and were obtained during a criminal investigation that did not result in an indictment. Biden had sued to prevent the Justice Department from releasing the recordings to Congress and the Heritage Foundation after a lower court judge ruled in June that the public interest outweighed his privacy rights.