The Oversight Project, a conservative activist organization affiliated with the Heritage Foundation, released redacted audio recordings and transcripts on Monday from 2016 and 2017 in which former President Joe Biden appears to discuss sensitive information and classified documents while working with a ghostwriter on his 2017 memoir.
The recordings span from October 2016, near the end of Biden’s tenure as vice president, through February 2017, following his departure from office. In the recordings, Biden references notes he maintained from his time in government and makes several statements that appear to touch on classified material. The conservative group and allied media outlets contend that Biden’s performance in the recordings demonstrates cognitive difficulties preceding his presidential campaign.
Biden’s representatives disputed the release, stating in a comment to CBS News that the conversations were private and shared with the Department of Justice on the condition of confidentiality. The statement characterized the public disclosure as politically motivated, asserting it represented weaponization of federal institutions. A Biden spokesperson indicated the former president respects the judiciary’s decision in the matter.
The tapes align with conclusions reached in former Special Counsel Robert Hur’s 2024 investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents. That inquiry determined Biden had “willfully” retained and shared classified information after leaving office, including material related to Afghanistan policy, and that some classified information from his handwritten notes was shared with his ghostwriter. However, Hur declined to recommend criminal charges, citing difficulties in prosecuting someone of advanced age for the offense.
Biden had initially challenged the recordings’ release through legal channels but withdrew that effort after a federal appeals court rejected his position. The recordings contain no allegations that classified material appeared in the published memoir itself.
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