Biden scrambles to block release of embarrassing secret tapes as Trump unloads with brutal three-word verdict

By PHILLIP NIETO, US POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 14:38, 27 May 2026 | Updated: 14:59, 27 May 2026 Joe Biden has sued Donald Trump's Justice Department to block the release of audio recordings he made with his ghostwriter, material investigators later used to question his mental competency. The former President's latest legal action lodged on Tuesday in federal court comes just weeks before the DOJ's planned release of the explosive tapes and transcripts to Republican lawmakers and the conservative Heritage Foundation group.  Biden held the private conversations with biographer Mark Zwonitzer in 2016 and 2017 at his home while writing his memoir 'Promise Me, Dad,' which chronicled his decision to consider a presidential run as his eldest son Beau battled brain cancer. The roughly 70 hours of recordings were later obtained by Special Counsel Robert Hur during his investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents.  Hur determined that Biden read classified material out loud to Zwonitzer but recommended against prosecution because Biden's declining memory would make it difficult to prove he had acted willfully.  The recordings were central to Hur's bombshell find in February 2024 that the 81-year-old was 'an elderly man with a poor memory.' The explosive characterization landed in the middle of Biden's re-election campaign and ignited speculation over his fitness to serve a second term.  The recordings capture Biden telling Zwonitzer on tape, 'I just found all the classified stuff downstairs,' and, according to Hur's report, the former vice president read journal entries containing classified intelligence 'nearly verbatim' on at least three occasions.  Court filings have also revealed Zwonitzer deleted some of the audio after learning of Hur's appointment as special counsel in 2023, however, investigators later recovered the material. Trump reacted on Truth Social to Biden's attempt to keep the tapes under wraps by branding his predecessor 'A Crooked Politician!!!' Joe Biden has sued Donald Trump's Justice Department to block the release of audio recordings he made with his ghostwriter, material investigators later used to question his mental competency Trump reacted on Truth Social to Biden's attempt to keep the tapes under wraps by branding his predecessor 'A Crooked Politician!!!' Hur determined that Biden read classified material out loud to Zwonitzer but recommended against prosecution because Biden's declining memory would make it difficult to prove he had acted willfully Biden's legal team argued the release of the tapes would amount to 'an unwarranted invasion of President Biden's privacy.' 'Every American, including a sitting or former Vice President, has a right to privacy in the personal conversations he has within his own home,' Biden's attorneys wrote.  Biden's legal team argued that when the Justice Department obtains private information through a criminal investigation it must shield that material from public disclosure. The tapes at issue are distinct from Hur's own interview of Biden, which the former president has also fought to keep from being publicly released. Although Hur's investigation recommended no charges, it was damning for Biden during his reelection effort in 2024 against Trump.  The FBI recovered classified documents during the investigation from Biden's 'garage, offices and basement den' in his Wilmington, Delaware home.  Material taken from Biden's home included classified documents concerning US military and foreign policy in Afghanistan, along with notebooks containing Biden's handwritten entries on national security and foreign policy.    Despite Biden's mishandling of classified material, the special counsel recommended against charges, writing that the former president would 'present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.' Hur added 'it would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him — by then a former president well into his eighties — of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.' The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. 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