Recently released audio tapes and transcripts, disclosed by a conservative activist group known as the Oversight Project, have raised questions regarding President Joe Biden's handling of classified information. The tapes appear to show Biden discussing sensitive foreign policy matters with his biographer, Mark Lewis Zwonitzer, during interviews conducted prior to his election as president in 2020. These materials were made public after a lengthy legal battle that Biden lost to keep his conversations private.
The Oversight Project, which is affiliated with the Heritage Foundation, has released approximately three hours of audio and 117 pages of heavily redacted transcripts. This material includes instances where Biden seems to admit to retaining classified information from his tenure as vice president. In a notable conversation from October 2016, he remarked to Zwonitzer, “They didn’t even know I had this,” while discussing sensitive issues related to foreign policy.
In a separate interview from 2017, after leaving the West Wing and just before launching his presidential campaign, Biden disclosed that he had found classified materials from his vice-presidency. He mentioned writing a 40-page memorandum to then-President Barack Obama, arguing against the deployment of additional troops to Afghanistan. The full details of the classified information remain redacted in the released audio and transcripts.
The release of these tapes comes after Special Counsel Robert Hur decided in 2024 not to charge Biden for mishandling classified information. During the investigation, Biden cooperated with Hur and insisted that he did not intentionally mishandle any materials. Hur noted that a jury might view Biden as a sympathetic figure, based partially on his age and what he characterized as a “poor memory.” This remark has become a point of contention in discussions about Biden’s age and suitability for the presidency. At the time interviews commenced, Biden was 74 years old, and he was 81, seeking reelection when Hur released his report in early 2024.
The tapes reveal varied cognitive performance from Biden, wherein he struggles to remember specific dates and details in some instances, while in others, he accurately recalls meetings and conversations. Jeff Clark, Vice President of Litigation at the Oversight Project, argued that these tapes indicate Biden's cognitive decline. He stated, “The tapes have always belonged to the American People; the Oversight Project just delivered them to their rightful owner. The knowledge of his deterioration was well-established.”
A Biden spokesperson criticized the release as politically motivated, claiming that the conversations from a decade ago were meant to remain private. The spokesperson, TJ Ducklo, emphasized that these conversations about Biden's late son were provided to the Department of Justice under the condition that they stay confidential. He asserted that the release represents a politically charged misuse of the DOJ for vengeance.
Biden initially sought to block the Department of Justice from making the material public but dropped his lawsuit after a divided panel of judges ruled against him. The three-judge panel found a substantial public interest justifying the disclosure of the material, impacting public perception surrounding the president.
