A joint court filing reveals former President Joe Biden is racing to intervene in a federal dispute over audio recordings and transcripts of his private conversations with ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer. The recordings, central to Special Counsel Robert Hur’s classified documents investigation, are set for disclosure by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to Congress and the Heritage Foundation under the Freedom of Information Act.
The DOJ filed May 8 that it intends to release redacted transcripts and audio recordings to both entities unless Biden files a motion to intervene by May 12. If he does not act by the deadline, the material will be disclosed shortly afterward. Should Biden file, the DOJ has set June 15 as the new release date.
The recordings span roughly 70 hours of conversations between Biden and Zwonitzer, who collaborated with him on his memoir. Hur’s investigation determined that Biden read classified notebook passages aloud during sessions, though he ultimately declined to charge Biden due to memory issues complicating proof of willfulness at trial. Biden has denied sharing classified information in the conversations.
Biden’s spokesman, TJ Ducklo, characterized the current push for disclosure as political rather than a transparency effort, noting Biden cooperated fully with Hur and provided the recordings on the condition they would not become public. The Heritage Foundation and its Oversight Project director Mike Howell have challenged Biden’s late entry into the case, arguing he waited over a year to seek intervention and that the release of even partially redacted materials constitutes an unjust delay.
Forensic analysis has recovered deleted audio files after Zwonitzer removed them following Hur’s appointment as special counsel—a detail highlighting the public interest stakes in this dispute. The DOJ has maintained it is prepared to hand over redacted material immediately, with a concrete fallback date if litigation intervenes. Biden’s legal team aims to prevent disclosure before June 15, while Heritage Foundation officials warn of potential emergency litigation if intervention fails to meet deadlines.