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Biden Drops Lawsuit Blocking Release of Ghostwriter Interview Recordings

The move removes an immediate legal barrier to sharing redacted audio and transcripts that were obtained by the special counsel during a classified‑documents probe.

FILE - President Joe Biden waits to speak about foreign policy at the State Department in Washington, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Overview

  • Biden filed a notice of voluntary dismissal on Friday, clearing the path for the Justice Department to provide redacted recordings and transcripts to the Republican‑led House Judiciary Committee and other requesters.
  • A three‑judge D.C. Circuit panel had ruled 2–1 in favor of disclosure in a decision issued the previous Monday and stayed its order until Aug. 3 to allow time for further review.
  • The materials stem from interviews Mark Zwonitzer conducted with Biden in 2016 and 2017 and were obtained by Special Counsel Robert Hur during his investigation into classified documents.
  • Biden’s lawyers argued the interviews were candid and private, and Judge Florence Pan dissented on privacy grounds, while the majority said the public interest in evaluating Hur’s prosecutorial judgment outweighed that privacy claim.
  • With the dismissal, immediate appellate options such as a Supreme Court petition or an en banc rehearing are removed unless new filings or a court stay appear, and Republicans who sought the records say the files will help assess Hur’s decision not to bring charges.