Biden Recorded Interviews Released Amid Classified Documents Investigation

New recordings of interviews with former President Joe Biden, conducted with the ghostwriter of his memoir and obtained during the classified documents investigation by Special Counsel Robert Hur, have now been made public. Biden’s lawyers fought for months to prevent their release, but decided to abandon their challenge, leading a judge to dismiss the case on Monday.

Mike Howell, previously with the Heritage Foundation and currently with the Oversight Project, actively pursued these materials for over two years through FOIA requests. Howell argued that the public should have access to the recordings and transcripts that influenced Hur’s decision.

“Joe Biden didn’t want these tapes to come out. But now they have — after two years of painful delay. There is no joy in Bidenville today. Robert Hur’s and Merrick Garland’s decision to give Biden a free pass for keeping and disclosing classified information must now be reexamined from top to bottom,” Jeff Clark, Vice President of Litigation at the Oversight Project, said to Fox News Digital.

The House Judiciary Committee reported that 2 hours and 45 minutes of recordings were released. These recordings encompass Biden’s conversations from 2016 and 2017 with his ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer, for his book “Promise Me, Dad.” In these talks, Biden frequently pauses and struggles to recall events, reinforcing Hur’s report comments.

Hur investigated Biden’s handling of classified documents dating back to his vice presidency in the Obama administration and as a senator from Delaware. Hur chose not to press charges, concluding that proving Biden’s willful retention or disclosure of the material was not beyond a reasonable doubt.

In his report, Hur noted that Biden’s conversations were “painfully slow,” with Biden “straining at times to read and relay his own notebook entries.” Hur mentioned that Biden’s memory during interviews in 2017 and again in 2023 with their office was “significantly limited.” Hur also reasoned that Biden might be perceived by a jury as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” which undermines the portrayal of an intentional violator of classified document laws.

The recordings highlighted instances where Biden took long pauses, forgot names, and could not recall specific days. For example, while discussing a 2014 Situation Room meeting, Biden warned, “Some of this may be classified, so be careful,” although he was uncertain, stating, “I’m not sure. It isn’t marked classified, but….”

On April 24, 2017, he struggled to remember two economic advisers, saying, “I’ll think of his name,” followed by, “I should write the names down because I keep forgetting them,” with a long pause until Zwonitzer mentioned Alan Krueger’s name.

On the same day, Biden could not recall his location on a certain date. He later remembered attending a memorial service for a fallen service member but forgot their name, saying, “I think I went to that memorial service in Wilmington. It says [REDACTED] December the 4th, but I don’t — I know what this means. Memorial service — [REDACTED] gets names really f—ed up. So it says memorial service for [REDACTED]. I don’t think her name was [REDACTED]. Or I forget [REDACTED].” Zwonitzer acknowledged with “Okay.” Biden added he would “make a note of that too,” before struggling again to recall a meeting with Ron Klain.

Ashley J. DiMella covers political news for Fox News Digital.