Full Breakdown
Release of Biden Audio Recordings and Their Political Fallout
7/28/2026, 3:57:17 AM
Release of Biden Audio Recordings
Approximately 70 hours of audio captured while former President Joe Biden worked with ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer on his 2017 memoir *Promise Me, Dad* have been made public. The recordings, obtained by CBS News, show Biden occasionally flagging material that may be classified and describing notes from high-level meetings, including a National Security Council briefing from the Obama administration. No classified content was ever included in the published book. The tapes were released after a two-year court fight brought by the Oversight Project, a conservative nonprofit that describes its mission as exposing government corruption.
Investigation and Findings
Special counsel Robert Hur cited the recordings in a February 2024 report on Biden’s handling of classified documents discovered in his home and office. Hur noted that Biden, then 75, referenced “classified notes” from a CIA and Department of Defense meeting and described finding “all the classified stuff downstairs.” The report characterized Biden’s speech in the tapes as “painfully slow” and indicated he struggled to recall events, suggesting diminished mental faculties. Hur concluded that a prosecution would be unlikely because a jury would likely view Biden as a sympathetic, elderly man with poor memory, and therefore the Justice Department would have little chance of securing a conviction.
Legal Battle Over Disclosure
The Oversight Project sued to compel release of the recordings after the Justice Department delayed turning over the files for a month. The organization’s vice-president of litigation, Jeff Clark, said the Department had previously provided similar materials in the Trump case but later blocked disclosure in Biden’s case. A federal appeals court ruled against the administration on July 20, ordering the tapes’ release, which the Oversight Project hailed as a complete victory.
Political and Legal Implications
Biden’s spokesperson TJ Ducklo reiterated that the conversations were private and provided to the Justice Department under the condition they remain confidential. Biden himself told reporters he did not share classified information with his ghostwriter and was unaware how classified boxes ended up in his garage. The release comes amid ongoing partisan debate over the handling of classified materials by both Biden and former President Donald Trump, whose own case resulted in charges that were later dismissed. Heritage Foundation, a sister nonprofit of the Oversight Project, filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the special counsel’s underlying records, underscoring the broader push to scrutinize the administration’s document-handling practices.
