US judge rejects Joe Biden’s lawsuit to withhold memoir recordings
A federal judge has denied former President Joe Biden's request to prevent the release of audio recordings made for his memoir, ruling that the public interest outweighs privacy concerns.
A US district judge on Friday rejected a lawsuit from former Democratic President Joe Biden seeking to block the release of recordings he made with ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer for his 2017 memoir Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose. Judge Dabney Friedrich, an appointee of President Donald Trump, ruled that the recordings and transcripts can be handed over to the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank. In her 26-page ruling, Friedrich acknowledged that Biden might suffer reputational harm but concluded that the public interest in the materials supersedes his privacy claims.
Biden argued that releasing the recordings, which were made in his home, would violate his right to privacy. His lawyers stated that the Department of Justice has a duty to protect private information collected during criminal investigations. The materials came into DOJ possession in 2023 during a special counsel investigation led by Robert Hur into Biden's handling of classified documents. Hur declined to press charges, citing in part Biden's poor memory.
Scrutiny over Biden's age and mental acuity intensified during his 2024 re-election campaign. After a faltering debate performance against Trump, Biden dropped out of the race, and his replacement, Kamala Harris, lost the election. Biden left office in January 2025 at age 82, making him the oldest sitting US president in history. He is expected to appeal Friday's decision.
