Newly released audio tapes reveal that President Joe Biden, while working on his 2017 memoir, repeatedly referenced possessing classified information and at times appeared confused or struggled to recall details. The recordings, made during conversations with his ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer, were released Monday to the House Judiciary Committee and the Oversight Project nonprofit following a two-year legal dispute.
These tapes were previously reviewed by special counsel Robert Hur as part of his investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents after leaving the vice presidency in 2017. In one snippet, Biden is heard telling Zwonitzer, "So this was, I early on, um, in ’09 I just found all the classified stuff downstairs." He also cautioned the ghostwriter, "Some of this may be classified so be careful with it," adding, "I’m not sure … It’s not marked classified but —".
According to Hur's 2024 report, Biden read "nearly verbatim" from notebooks containing sensitive national security and foreign policy information during his interviews with Zwonitzer for the book "Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose." The recordings capture moments where Biden appears to discover classified material in real time while reviewing papers.
"The next thing I have here is, um, this is classified …" Biden says in another excerpt. He also described potentially classified White House meetings to Zwonitzer, including discussions about "a big meeting with the CIA and everyone," "a big meeting down in the Situation Room," and "a long meeting where DOD brief … POTUS."
In an October 2016 recording, Biden stated he retained extensive notes without others being aware, saying, "They didn’t know I have this." The tapes also feature instances where Biden appeared to lose his train of thought. "Alright — what was I going to ask you? Something else… Uh… um. Oh gosh. I can’t think of anything else," he is heard saying at one point. In another moment, after asking Zwonitzer to "Hang on a second," Biden commented, "Um … it’s confusing me."
Special counsel Hur concluded that Biden "willfully retained and disclosed classified materials" after his time as vice president. However, Hur declined to file charges, stating that Biden would "likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."