A divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Monday rejected President Joe Biden’s request to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts of interviews he gave to a memoir ghostwriter before he was elected president, and suspended its decision until Aug. 3 to give Biden time to consider another appeal, the court said.
The 2-1 majority said there is a “substantial” public interest in disclosing the material congressional Republicans demanded and that redactions could protect Biden’s privacy. “We conclude that any remaining incursion on personal privacy from disclosure of the now-redacted materials likely does not outweigh the public interest in disclosure,” the ruling says.
Judge Florence Pan, a Biden nominee, dissented, saying Biden has shown a “substantial privacy interest” in keeping the material private and noting that “the conversations at issue took place in Biden’s home, and the recordings of them were obtained by the government in the course of a criminal investigation that did not lead to an indictment,” she wrote. The panel also included Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan, an Obama nominee, and Judge Gregory Katsas, a Trump nominee.
The recordings were obtained by special counsel Robert Hur, who investigated Biden’s handling of classified documents from his time as a senator and as vice president, the court filing says. Republicans in Congress had sought the material after Hur declined to bring charges. Biden sued and sought an injunction to prevent the Justice Department under the Trump administration from releasing the recordings to Congress and the conservative Heritage Foundation, court records show.
Mark Zwonitzer, who worked with Biden on the memoirs “Promises to Keep” (2007) and “Promise Me, Dad” (2017), interviewed Biden at his home in 2016 and 2017, court filings say. Biden’s lawyers have told the court the conversations were candid, personal and intended to remain private. Biden spokesman T.J. Ducklo said the president “disagrees with the ruling but respects the courts and the vital role an independent judiciary plays in a healthy democracy,” and added that the recordings “were provided to the Department of Justice on the express condition they stay that way.”
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
