According to Bloomberg News, ABC and other media reports, former US President Biden sued the US Department of Justice on the 26th local time, to prevent officials from releasing recordings and transcripts of interviews he had given for his memoir.
Joe Biden, file photo: media
In the latest lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court in Washington, D.C. , Biden’s lawyers have accused the D.C. United States of taking a legal position, it is at odds with its long-standing position on which material can be exempted from FOIA requests. Biden’s side also said the proposed disclosure“Would constitute an unwarranted invasion of Biden’s privacy.”.
The interviews were conducted in 2016 and 2017, according to Reuters, and were obtained by the Justice Department in 2023, when Hull was investigating Biden’s handling of classified documents. The conservative think tank sued the Justice Department in 2024 to obtain materials related to Hull’s investigation. The Justice Department had defended its seizure of the recordings and transcripts, saying that their release would constitute a serious invasion of privacy, but during the Trump administration it changed its position, it plans to release the material to plaintiffs and Congress by June 15.
Reuters reported on the 13th of this month that Biden had filed an application with a federal judge in Washington to prevent the government from releasing the interview transcripts. Biden’s spokesman, Dacroux, said in a statement that, biden cooperated with Hull’s investigation and agreed to provide audio recordings on the condition that they would not be made public. “What’s happening right now is not about transparency, it’s about politics,” ms. Dacroux said. Biden’s lawyer Jeffries said Biden discussed“A range of sensitive topics” with his writing partner. Biden said he had privacy rights over the records and that the Justice Department’s move was politically motivated.