Judge allows release of Biden memoir recordings to Heritage Foundation
A federal judge rejected Joe Biden’s privacy bid over recordings made with his ghostwriter for a 2017 memoir.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
3 min read
A federal judge has refused former President Joe Biden’s request to block the release of recordings and transcripts from his work on a memoir. The decision clears the way for the Justice Department to provide the materials to the Heritage Foundation under a public records request, according to Al Jazeera.
US District Judge Dabney Friedrich, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, issued the ruling on Friday. Al Jazeera reported that the Trump administration had already approved releasing the records before Biden sought court intervention.
The files involve conversations Biden recorded with ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer while Biden was out of public office. The two worked on Biden’s 2017 memoir, Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose.
Privacy claim rejected
In a 26-page ruling, Friedrich said disclosure could harm Biden’s privacy and reputation because the recordings captured candid remarks by a public figure in his home. She wrote that the release “risks irreparable harm to Biden’s privacy interests and his reputation.”
Friedrich nevertheless found that Biden had not shown a public harm that would justify an injunction. She wrote that “the harm to Biden’s diminished privacy interest is outweighed by the public’s interest in the Zwonitzer materials.”
Biden’s lawsuit argued that the Department of Justice has an obligation to safeguard private information it gathers during criminal investigations. His lawyers told the court that “every American, including a sitting or former Vice President, has a right to privacy in the personal conversations he has within his own home.”
The Heritage Foundation, which Al Jazeera described as a right-wing think tank that has supported Trump, sought the records through the Freedom of Information Act. Biden asked the court to stop the group from receiving them.
Files came from classified-documents inquiry
The Justice Department obtained the recordings and transcripts in 2023, during Biden’s presidency, as part of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents while out of office. Hur reviewed the materials to assess whether Biden had used information from his presidency in the memoir, according to Al Jazeera.
Hur ultimately concluded that criminal charges against Biden were not “warranted.” Al Jazeera reported that Hur cited both a lack of evidence and his view that jurors might see Biden “as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
Hur also used the recordings and transcripts to support his conclusion that Biden “appeared to have significant limitations” in his memory. Biden has faced scrutiny over whether his age affected his ability to serve during his 2021-to-2025 term, and he has denied that he was unable to carry out the duties of the presidency, according to Al Jazeera.
Questions about Biden’s age intensified during his 2024 re-election campaign, especially after a June debate with Trump in which Al Jazeera reported Biden appeared to lose his train of thought and made nonsensical remarks. Biden later left the race, and then-Vice President Kamala Harris lost to Trump after a shortened campaign.
Trump has cited Biden’s age and mental acuity as grounds to undo actions from Biden’s presidency, according to Al Jazeera. Trump has also called for the Justice Department to investigate whether officials concealed any health conditions Biden may have had while in office, and the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee has sought the Zwonitzer files for a related inquiry.
Biden left office in January 2025 at age 82, making him the oldest sitting president in US history, according to Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera reported that Biden is expected to appeal Friedrich’s decision.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.