Biden Drops Lawsuit Over Ghostwriter Recordings

President Joe Biden voluntarily dismissed a lawsuit on Friday aimed at preventing the release of audio recordings and transcripts from his interviews with a memoir ghostwriter. This action follows a divided 2-1 ruling by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which rejected his attempt to block the material's disclosure. The appeals court had cited a "substantial" public interest in the recordings, suspending its decision until August 3 to allow Biden time to consider further legal options, such as petitioning the Supreme Court or seeking a rehearing by the full circuit court.

Circuit Judge Florence Pan dissented from the panel's ruling, stating that Biden had demonstrated a "substantial privacy interest" in keeping the material confidential. The appeal was heard by Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan and Judge Gregory Katsas, alongside Judge Pan. Biden's legal team argued that the conversations with ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer, who collaborated on Biden's memoirs "Promises to Keep" (2007) and "Promise Me, Dad" (2017), were candid, personal, and intended for private use. Zwonitzer conducted these interviews in 2016 and 2017.

The recordings were initially obtained by special counsel Robert Hur during his investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents. Following Hur's decision not to file charges against Biden, Republican members of Congress requested access to this material. Biden subsequently filed the lawsuit to prevent the Justice Department, under the Trump administration, from releasing the recordings.