DC Circuit extends pause on release of Biden's ghostwriter tapes to consider whether to grant an injunction

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: msn/Law & Crime

12h


A federal court of appeals on Friday issued a pause on a lower court's order that directed the U.S. Department of Justice to turn over hours of audio interviews with Joe Biden to a conservative think tank.

For over two years, the Heritage Foundation has sought audiotapes and transcripts from former special counsel Robert Hur's classified documents probe under a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit. And for nearly just as long, the DOJ has opposed the request.

In May of this year, Biden himself intervened in the ongoing litigation, accusing the Trump administration of "abandoning the core tenets of American justice and forsaking its duty to protect law enforcement files" by reversing course on a subset of the Hur materials.

Specifically, some "70 hours of audio recordings" of Biden speaking with author and documentarian Mark Zwonitzer regarding the 46th president's memoir, "Promise Me, Dad," were deleted but recovered as part of Hur's investigation into Biden's retention of documents about U.S. "military and foreign policy in Afghanistan." Earlier this year, the Trump administration dropped its opposition to the release of the disputed audio materials.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/dc-circuit-extends-pause-on-release-of-biden-s-ghostwriter-tapes-to-consider-whether-to-grant-an-injunction-pending-appeal/ar-AA27Fgnj

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Full headline - DC Circuit extends pause on release of Biden's ghostwriter tapes to consider 'whether to grant an injunction pending appeal'

REFERENCES

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143681635
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100221366863

[Bayard]

1. Heritage should have to wait for the book like everybody else

trump think he's being subtle going after President Biden this time.

[Karma13612]

2. Since when does a non-Law Enforcement Justice Department

entity think it’s entitled to private recordings and memoranda.

If Barack Obama decided to write another book, and did interviews with a documentarian, would I have FOIA rights to demand to get the interview transcripts?

Heritage Foundation is a think tank. They are not an authority. This book is/was a Biden memoir, not part of his official duties as President, right?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. Biden scores temporary court victory as Trump-appointed judge delays release of Hur investigation materials

trump wants to release these tapes because he is a petty person and because he wants to distract from him many failures

Biden scores temporary court victory as Trump-appointed judge delays release of Hur investigation materials

— (@worldnewsguru.bsky.social) 2026-06-21T23:45:01.899Z

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-scores-temporary-court-victory-trump-appointed-judge-delays-release-hur-investigation-materials

Former President Joe Biden has won another three weeks to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts tied to special counsel Robert Hur's classified documents investigation after a federal judge granted a temporary injunction while a federal appeals court reviews his challenge.

The recordings stem from Biden's interviews with Mark Zwonitzer, the ghostwriter of his 2017 memoir, "Promise Me, Dad."

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump appointee, on Friday issued an injunction pending appeal that prevents the Justice Department from releasing the materials while the D.C. Circuit considers the case. The order came just hours after Friedrich denied Biden's request for a preliminary injunction that would have stopped the release altogether.

The legal battle could determine whether Americans ever hear the recordings that helped shape Hur's decision not to prosecute Biden over his handling of classified documents. The audio has been the subject of intense scrutiny because Hur raised questions about Biden's memory in explaining why he declined to bring charges against Biden for mishandling classified documents.

Although the Justice Department previously released audio from Biden's interviews with Hur, the recordings at the center of the current legal battle involve separate conversations between Biden and Zwonitzer.

Hur's 2024 report repeatedly referenced Biden's recorded conversations with Zwonitzer. The special counsel described some exchanges as "painfully slow" and said Biden at times struggled to recall events and relay information, observations that fueled scrutiny of the Biden's cognitive abilities during an election year.