Biden Sues DOJ to Block Release of Memoir Interview Audio

Former President Joe Biden has initiated legal action against the Department of Justice (DOJ) to stop the release of audio recordings from interviews held at his residence for his memoir published in 2017. This lawsuit, submitted to a federal court in Washington, DC, aims to prevent the DOJ from disclosing these materials to the US House Judiciary Committee and the Heritage Foundation, which is scheduled for June 15. The Heritage Foundation sought the recordings following their use in Robert Hur's 2023 investigation into Biden's management of classified documents, which concluded without any criminal charges. Biden's lawsuit argues that the DOJ initially resisted the Heritage Foundation's 2024 Freedom of Information Act request but changed its stance after Donald Trump's presidency began. It also contends that the committee's request is merely a tactic to bypass federal laws against release. Biden's legal representatives have requested the court to deem the request invalid and to impose a permanent injunction against the release. In response, a DOJ spokesperson claimed that the Biden administration had been trying to conceal recordings indicating a decline in his cognitive abilities since 2016.