Former United States President Joe Biden has sued the United States Department of Justice in a bid to stop the release of audio recordings and transcripts from private conversations he had with his biographer between 2016 and 2017.
The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in a federal court in Washington, D.C., ahead of the Justice Department’s planned June 15 release of the materials to the United States House Judiciary Committee and the conservative Heritage Foundation.
The disputed recordings were previously reviewed during former Special Counsel Robert Hur’s 2023 investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents. Hur later decided not to bring criminal charges against the former president.
According to Biden’s legal filing, the Justice Department initially resisted the Heritage Foundation’s request for the records under the Freedom of Information Act, arguing that the materials were protected from disclosure. However, the lawsuit claims the department reversed its stance after President Donald Trump returned to office.
Biden’s lawyers argued that the Judiciary Committee’s request was merely an attempt to bypass federal restrictions that normally prevent the release of such records. The lawsuit seeks a court declaration invalidating the request and permanently blocking the release of the materials.
Officials from the Justice Department had not responded publicly to requests for comment at the time of filing.
The recordings were reportedly made at Biden’s home while he worked on his 2017 memoir, Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose. The book chronicled Biden’s decision to seek the presidency while his eldest son, Beau Biden, battled brain cancer.
Earlier in May, Biden moved to join a separate lawsuit filed by the Heritage Foundation against the Justice Department over the same materials. A judge later allowed him to participate in the case but restricted his ability to challenge the congressional request directly.
The legal dispute adds another layer to ongoing political tensions surrounding classified documents investigations and the handling of presidential records in the United States.
