US Court Allows Release of Biden Interview Tapes to Heritage Foundation

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich denied former President Joe Biden's request for a preliminary injunction and ruled that the Justice Department may release more than 70 hours of audio recordings from 2016‑2017 interviews with his biographer Mark Zwonitzer. The recordings, obtained during a special‑counsel investigation, reportedly include Biden discussing classified material and exhibit signs of cognitive decline. While the Justice Department will redact personal content, the judge determined that the public interest in the tapes outweighs Biden's privacy concerns. The Heritage Foundation, which filed a Freedom of Information Act request, will receive the tapes after the court's decision.

The release follows earlier efforts by Republican lawmakers and the Heritage Foundation to obtain the recordings, alleging that they show Biden improperly handled classified information and was impaired while in office. The decision underscores the tension between privacy claims and transparency in investigations of a sitting president.