{"id":2617484,"date":"2026-06-22T18:20:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T22:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/district-court-rules-doj-can-release-joe-bidens-incriminating-interview-tapes\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T18:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T22:22:09","slug":"district-court-rules-doj-can-release-joe-bidens-incriminating-interview-tapes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/district-court-rules-doj-can-release-joe-bidens-incriminating-interview-tapes\/","title":{"rendered":"Court Rules DOJ Can Release Biden&#8217;s Incriminating Interview Tapes"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdistrict-court-rules-doj-can-release-joe-bidens-incriminating-interview-tapes%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2617484&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A U.S. District Court judge denied former President Joe Biden\u2019s request for a preliminary injunction to prevent the release of tapes and transcripts from 2016-2017 interviews, which reportedly contain evidence of his mishandling classified materials. Biden sued the Justice Department to block the release of over 70 hours of audio recordings with his biographer,citing privacy concerns. The judge acknowledged potential privacy harm but emphasized the public\u2019s right to access these materials, especially since investigations suggest Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-pentagon-pick-colin-kahl-denies-leaking-classified-information-on-social-media\/\" title=\"... Pentagon Pick Colin Kahl Denies Leaking Classified ... on Social Media\">disclosed classified information<\/a> during this period and showed signs of cognitive decline. The tapes include Biden reading from classified materials and admitting to having undisclosed documents, raising questions about his mental fitness and accountability. The case highlights concerns about weather Biden authorized presidential decisions while impaired and whether there was a cover-up of his cognitive decline. The release of transcripts and recordings has been delayed pending an appeal.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A United States District Court judge released an <a href=\"https:\/\/static.itsyourgov.org\/Biden_Tapes_Case_opinion.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">opinion <\/a>on Friday denying former President Joe Biden\u2019s request for a preliminary injunction to block the release of tapes and transcripts from a set of 2016-2017 interviews that reportedly show Biden\u2019s illegal handling of classified materials. <\/p>\n<p>In May 2026, Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/joe-biden\/biden-sues-justice-department-stop-release-audio-interviews-rcna347042\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sued <\/a>the U.S. Department of Justice to block the release of more than 70 hours of audio recordings of conversations between himself and his biographer, Mark Zwonitzer. After making redactions for privacy purposes, the DOJ was set to release the tapes to The Heritage Foundation as a result of a 2024 Freedom of Information Act request. Biden tried to block their release, arguing that his privacy interests outweigh the public interest in having access to the information.<\/p>\n<p>District court Judge Dabney Friedrich agreed that the release of the Zwonitzer tapes risks harm to Biden\u2019s personal privacy and reputation. But he went on to rule that the public interest in the tapes outweighs that risk because in 2024, the DOJ \u201cprepared a report detailing evidence that the then-sitting President had, among other things, disclosed classified information to his biographer and \u2026 Hur \u2026 explicitly relied on the Zwonitzer materials in deciding not to prosecute Biden because of his mental state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese unparalleled circumstances account for the high degree of public interest in materials that were gathered during the course of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fmr-pittsburgh-pirates-pitcher-felipe-vazquez-found-guilty-of-sexually-assaulting-13-year-old-girl\/\" title=\"Fmr. Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez found guilty of sexually assaulting 13-year-old girl\">law enforcement investigation<\/a> that resulted in no criminal charges,\u201d the opinion stated.<\/p>\n<p>As The Heritage Foundation <a href=\"https:\/\/assets.bwbx.io\/documents\/users\/iqjWHBFdfxIU\/rBwnDKsGVGh0\/v0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">argued<\/a>, the public interest in the Zwonitzer tapes is that they contain evidence that Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-fumes-over-special-counsel-report-highlighting-bidens-poor-memory\/\" title=\"White House angered by ... on ...&#039;s &#039;weak recollection\">disclosed classified materials<\/a> in the process of writing his 2017 book <em>Promise Me Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The Hur Report quotes portions of the 2016-2017 Zwonitzer tapes in which Biden reads aloud from material he kept in his home from his time as vice president, and he then seemingly admits to his biographer the information is classified material that \u201cthey didn\u2019t even know I have.\u201d The report also claims that the recorded conversations were \u201cpainfully slow, with Mr. Biden struggling to remember events and straining at times to read and relay his own notebook entries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Heritage Foundation was alerted to potential incriminating information in the Zwonitzer recordings when Special Counsel Robert Hur investigated the president after classified documents were found at his Delaware home. The \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/storage\/report-from-special-counsel-robert-k-hur-february-2024.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hur Report<\/a>\u201d was released to the public in February 2024, and it found that Biden \u201cwillfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen.\u201d Under normal circumstances, Biden would have faced felony charges.<\/p>\n<p>However, the Hur Report concluded that even though the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >investigation found incriminating evidence<\/a> against Biden, the DOJ would not pursue charges against him because \u201cat trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In his 2024 interviews with the Special Counsel\u2019s Office, Biden reportedly forgot when he was vice president, and could \u201cnot remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died.\u201d Hur also wrote that Biden was showing signs of significant mental impairment in 2017, and this impairment was his primary justification for deciding to forego pressing felony charges against the president.<\/p>\n<p>The Heritage Foundation argued that the release of these tapes is crucial for the American people to decide whether members of the Biden-Harris administration and their media cohorts \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/05\/22\/congress-must-use-every-tool-at-its-disposal-to-uncover-biden-dementiagate-cover-up\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">covered up<\/a>\u201d evidence that Biden was unfit to hold office in the first place, tracing evidence of his cognitive decline back multiple years before he became president.<\/p>\n<p>This case also sheds light on the question of whether Biden \u201c<strong><em>actually authorized<\/em><\/strong>  non-delegable Presidential decisions while actually impaired,\u201d The Heritage Foundation said. If Biden was too mentally impaired in 2017 to be responsible for criminal actions, the question of whether he was responsible for his actions as president becomes even more important.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIndeed, many of President Biden\u2019s own senior staff testified to a complete lack of such documentation and authorization for use of the autopen on official documents as something cloaked by a game of three-card monte,\u201d Heritage wrote in its legal opposition filing. \u201cIn evaluating how such an unprecedented situation should be approached, the American People deserve as much information as possible as to the timeline and depth of President Biden\u2019s cognitive decline.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Heritage pointed out in the context of this case, quoting a previous Supreme Court ruling, the president is \u201cthe only person who alone composes a branch of government.\u201d If, as is likely, the soon-to-be-released Zwonitzer tapes continue to affirm that Biden\u2019s mental decline began much earlier than the public realized, they could shed further light on the \u201cwidespread evidence\u201d that other Democrat party officials, some unelected, were illegally exercising presidential power through the autopen and lying to the American people about it while Joe Biden was cognitively impaired.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhether a pardon or a veto is valid is no small matter,\u201d The Heritage Foundation argued. \u201cMoreover, whether President Biden did, in fact, leak classified information, whether President Biden was in fact impaired, and whether senior Members of the Biden-Harris Administration covered up Biden\u2019s apparent cognitive decline is and will continue to be a salient issue[] in the upcoming 2026 Election.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Friedrich also <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/regulation\/court-battles\/5932973-judge-allows-release-biden-recordings\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ordered<\/a> the release of the transcripts and recordings delayed three weeks to give an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/amtrak-takes-over-union-station-what-riders-need-to-know-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Amtrak takes over Union Station: What riders need to know - Washington Examiner\">appeals court time<\/a> to consider Biden\u2019s motion for a pause on Friedrich\u2019s ruling allowing the release.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Luke Miller is a contributor for The Federalist who is studying political economy and journalism at Hillsdale College.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Court denies Biden\u2019s bid to block interview tapes release<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4303,"featured_media":2617485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/slow-joe.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[3620,5045,3976,4431,4133],"class_list":["post-2617484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-biden","tag-government","tag-investigation","tag-legal","tag-news"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/slow-joe.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2617484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2617484"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2617484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2617488,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2617484\/revisions\/2617488"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2617485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2617484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2617484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2617484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}