What changed
2026-07-29 03:54 UTC → 2026-07-30 01:20 UTC ·
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After Following the July 2026 decision by a three‑judge panel of the D.C. Circuit lifted a temporary to lift the injunction, the Justice Department released redacted three hours of audio and 117 pages of heavily redacted transcripts drawn from roughly 70 hours of 2016‑2017 interviews between former President Joe Biden and his memoir ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer. The recordings, obtained during Special Counsel Robert Hur’s 2024 investigation of Biden’s handling of classified documents, show Biden repeatedly warning the writer that material may be classified and describing how he “found all the classified stuff downstairs.” They also capture frequent memory lapses, with Biden uttering phrases such as “I don’t remember.” Biden’s legal team voluntarily dismissed the remaining FOIA suit, ending attempts to keep the material private. The conservative Oversight Project, a nonprofit arm of the Heritage Foundation nonprofit that sued for the files, made about three hours of the audio and 117 pages of heavily redacted transcripts public. In the clips Biden repeatedly warns the writer that some content may be classified, says he “found all the classified stuff downstairs,” and exhibits frequent memory lapses such as “I don’t remember.” The release follows the Heritage‑backed lawsuit and stems from material collected during Special Counsel Robert Hur’s February 2024 investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents. Hur’s report concluded that while that, although classified material was present, there was insufficient evidence for criminal charges, attributing the findings situation to Biden’s advanced age and diminished memory. The renewed release in late July 2026 has reignited political criticism of Biden’s mental acuity and his handling of sensitive documents during the 2024 campaign, but no new legal actions have emerged.