Appeals court deals Joe Biden major blow, and you may need more popcorn

BS BRIEF:

A divided federal appeals court rejected former President Joe Biden’s request to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts from his interviews with ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer, finding that the public interest outweighs Biden’s remaining privacy concerns after redactions. The ruling is temporarily stayed until Aug. 3 to allow Biden to seek further review.
The recordings became central to Special Counsel Robert Hur’s classified documents investigation, which concluded without criminal charges but raised questions about Biden’s memory and handling of classified material.
The Heritage Foundation’s FOIA lawsuit triggered the disclosure fight, with the Trump Justice Department now supporting the release of redacted materials to both Heritage and Congress.

APPEALS COURT DEALS BIDEN A MAJOR BLOW, CLEARS PATH FOR HUR INTERVIEW RECORDINGS

Former President Joe Biden suffered another legal setback Monday after a federal appeals court rejected his emergency effort to keep audio recordings and transcripts from Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation out of public view.

In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit concluded that the public has a substantial interest in reviewing the materials, which stem from Biden’s 2016 and 2017 interviews with ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer.

The court wrote:

“We conclude that any remaining incursion on personal privacy from disclosure of the now-redacted materials likely does not outweigh the public interest in disclosure.”

Although the ruling clears the way for release, the court stayed its decision until Aug. 3, giving Biden an opportunity to seek relief from either the full D.C. Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court.

The recordings were seized during Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents from his years as a U.S. senator and vice president.

Hur ultimately declined to recommend criminal charges but famously concluded that a jury could view Biden as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” language that became a defining political issue during the 2024 campaign.

Biden sued earlier this year after the Trump Justice Department announced it intended to release redacted copies of the recordings and transcripts to the Heritage Foundation and the House Judiciary Committee in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. His attorneys argued the conversations occurred inside Biden’s Delaware home, were deeply personal and were never intended for public release.

In dissent, Judge Florence Pan—who was nominated by Biden—agreed.

She wrote:

“The conversations at issue took place in Biden’s home, and the recordings of them were obtained by the government in the course of a criminal investigation that did not lead to an indictment.”

The majority, however, found that extensive redactions significantly reduced any remaining privacy concerns while leaving intact the public’s interest in understanding Hur’s decision not to prosecute.

The legal dispute began after the Heritage Foundation filed a FOIA request seeking access to the materials that had become evidence during Hur’s investigation. A federal district judge previously ruled that Biden’s privacy interests did not outweigh the public’s interest in disclosure, a decision the appeals court largely affirmed.

President Donald Trump weighed in on the controversy earlier this year, blasting Biden’s lawsuit on Truth Social and accusing his predecessor of trying to hide information from the American public.

If no higher court intervenes before Aug. 3, the recordings and transcripts could soon become public.

MY TAKE:

If these recordings are as harmless as Biden’s allies have insisted for the past two years, then why has the former president fought so hard to keep Americans from hearing them?

That’s the question nobody in the legacy media seems eager to ask. Remember, this isn’t some secret conversation intercepted by intelligence agencies. These are recordings that became evidence in one of the most consequential special counsel investigations involving a sitting president. Robert Hur listened to them. Federal prosecutors listened to them. The courts have now listened to the legal arguments surrounding them.

The only people who apparently shouldn’t get to hear them are…the American people.

Transparency has always been Washington’s favorite campaign slogan—right up until transparency becomes inconvenient.

And here’s another interesting wrinkle: one of the judges who sided with Biden was appointed by Biden himself. The other two judges—including Obama appointee Sri Srinivasan—weren’t persuaded.

If the tapes vindicate Biden, his supporters should welcome their release. If they’re damaging, well…perhaps that’s exactly why this case has been fought all the way to the D.C. Circuit. Either way, sunlight beats spin every single time.

DBS WIRE SOURCES: