Biden seeks to block DOJ release of 2017 audio, court filing says
President Joe Biden's lawyers are expected to object to the Justice Department's release of redacted written transcripts and audio recordings of Biden's 2017 interactions with his book ghostwriter, according to...
By Fox News · Fox News
President Joe Biden's lawyers are expected to object to the Justice Department's release of redacted written transcripts and audio recordings of Biden's 2017 interactions with his book ghostwriter, according to a new court filing. "President Biden, through counsel, has advised the Department that he intends to seek to intervene to prevent any such disclosures," Assistant Attorney General Civil Division Brett Shumate wrote in a filing from a Freedom of Information Act request from the Heritage Foundation's Mike Howell. "The Department does not oppose intervention." There is a Tuesday deadline for Biden's lawyers to respond to the DOJ's release for a response to Howell's FOIA request, which would come shortly after Tuesday if there was no objection. Shumate noted the release of 70 hours of redacted recordings would be delayed until June 15 if Biden objects before the deadline. BIDEN INTERVIEW AUDIO REVEALS WHO BROUGHT UP BEAU'S DEATH — AND IT WASN'T HUR "Defendant intends to disclose the written transcript and audio recordings at issue in this matter, with redactions, to Congress, pursuant to a request from the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee , as well as to Plaintiffs," the filing in Howell's FOIA lawsuit with the DOJ read. The interactions came between Biden and his ghostwriter for the 2017 book: "Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose." The audio and transcript were obtained by special counsel Robert Hur's investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents after the Obama administration ended, which included storing them in his garage and at the Penn Biden Center. "President Biden cooperated fully with special counsel Hur, and agreed to provide audiotapes of conversations with his biographer for a book about his deceased son on the condition that they would not be made public," Biden spokesperson TJ Ducklo told Politico in a statement Sunday. "The DOJ themselves have said these tapes serve no public interest. FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS RE…