Biden’s DOJ lawsuit assigned to judge who oversaw Trump’s Jan. 6 case
Former President Joe Biden’s lawsuit to block the Justice Department from releasing private interview recordings tied to special counsel Robert Hur’s classified documents case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan. The suit challenges the DOJ’s plan to turn over audio and transcripts to Congress and the Heritage Foundation following Freedom of Information Act requests.
Hur reviewed Biden’s handling of classified materials and also examined interviews Biden gave to a ghostwriter for his 2017 memoir, recorded at Biden’s home. Biden’s complaint argues these are private, sensitive conversations and that the DOJ has an obligation to protect them from disclosure.
Chutkan, a Washington D.C. federal judge appointed by Barack Obama, has handled several major cases involving Trump and the Jan.6 Capitol attack, including rejecting attempts to pause related evidence releases. Born in Jamaica in 1962, she worked as a D.C. public defender for more than a decade before joining private practice and taking the federal bench after Obama’s 2014 nomination, confirmed by the Senate 95-0.
Former President Joe Biden’s lawsuit against the Justice Department has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who rose to national prominence for overseeing several cases connected to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Biden sued the DOJ on Tuesday in an effort to block the release of private conversations and audio recordings tied to special counsel Robert Hur’s classified documents investigation.
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Hur examined Biden’s handling of classified documents and reviewed interviews the former president conducted with ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer while working on his 2017 memoir, Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose. The conversations, recorded between 2016 and 2017 at Biden’s home, were part of the book-writing process.
“These were private conversations, often involving sensitive subject matter, that took place in President Biden’s home,” the complaint states.
The lawsuit follows a February notification from the DOJ informing Biden that it planned to release the recordings and transcripts to Congress and the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.
“Every American, including a sitting or former Vice President, has a right to privacy in the personal conversations he has within his own home,” the complaint said. “And when the U.S. Department of Justice obtains that private information through a criminal investigation, the Department bears a particular responsibility to protect it from disclosure.”
Chutkan, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, serves on the federal bench in Washington, D.C., and has frequently handled high-profile cases involving President Donald Trump and the Jan. 6 attack.
She notably rejected an effort by Trump’s legal team to pause the release of evidence gathered by special counsel Jack Smith in the Jan. 6 investigation. During one sentencing hearing connected to the Capitol riot, Chutkan said, “this was no exercise of First Amendment rights. It was a violent attempt to overthrow the government.”
BIDEN SUES TO PREVENT RELEASE OF INTERVIEW AUDIO FROM ROBERT HUR DOJ INVESTIGATION
Born in Jamaica in 1962, Chutkan attended George Washington University before earning her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She spent more than a decade as a public defender in D.C., trying more than 30 cases before entering private practice, according to her official court biography.
Obama nominated Chutkan to the federal bench in 2014, and the Senate confirmed her in a 95-0 vote.
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