Former President Joe Biden attended the Barack Obama Presidential Center dedication ceremony on June 18 in Chicago. Recently, Biden decided not to appeal a court ruling. This decision allows the Trump Justice Department to release transcripts and recordings of Biden’s conversations with his ghostwriter.
Biden’s legal team filed a notice of voluntary dismissal in a related case. This ends the legal dispute. The outcome favors the Heritage Foundation, a conservative group that sued to make the records public. These tapes date back to 2017 after Biden’s term as vice president. During this time, he participated in interviews for his memoir, Promise Me, Dad.
In 2022, while serving as president, Biden informed the Justice Department about classified documents at his Wilmington, Del., home. The Department began an investigation and collected the tapes. In 2024, special prosecutor Robert Hur concluded that while Biden had some classified documents at home, criminal charges were not justified. Hur’s report stated that finding such documents at home was “unremarkable.” However, the report sparked controversy because it described Biden as having memory issues.
The report claimed the tapes were slow, with Biden struggling to remember events. Conservative activists hope the tapes will validate concerns about Biden’s mental state before his presidency. Jeffrey Clark from the Oversight Project stated that the tapes will soon be publicized. He said, “We’ll put out a link. It’s not more complicated than that.”
Biden criticized the special prosecutor’s report as “plain wrong.” A source familiar with the tapes described them as “painfully boring.” Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential race after a poor debate performance. Conservative groups filed a lawsuit in April 2024. The Department of Justice fought against releasing the tapes, arguing they were akin to “personal diary” entries. However, the DOJ reversed its stance, leading to Biden’s involvement in the lawsuit. His lawyers claimed his privacy outweighed public interest and cited laws protecting the tapes.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled against Biden. Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan and Judge Gregory Katsas agreed, while Judge Florence Pan dissented. As a result, Biden’s legal team chose to concede and relinquish the tapes to the Heritage Foundation. A source close to Biden noted the potential danger of the DOJ using its power against individuals by obtaining private conversations.
Biden’s decision contrasts sharply with Trump’s aggressive legal strategies. As Biden stepped away from the legal battle, Trump sought Supreme Court intervention for a defamation case. He challenged a jury verdict requiring him to pay $5 million to E. Jean Carroll for assault and defamation. It is rare for the Supreme Court to revisit a case already rejected. Trump’s persistence in litigation differs from Biden’s decision to conclude the legal fight.
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