Attorneys for former President Joe Biden have dropped their legal challenge to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts from Special Counsel Robert Hur's investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, under Obama-appointed Judge Tanya Chutkan, accepted the voluntary dismissal on Monday.
The legal battle centered on recordings of Biden's 2016 and 2017 conversations with his ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer, for the memoir "Promise Me, Dad." Hur's investigation, which examined classified materials from Biden's time as vice president and senator, prepared transcripts of these interviews.
The Justice Department is now able to release the audio recordings and transcripts to the House Judiciary Committee following the court's acceptance of the motion to dismiss.
Special Counsel Robert Hur concluded his investigation in February, declining to pursue criminal charges against Biden. Hur stated that prosecutors could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Biden willfully retained or disclosed classified material. In his report, Hur described Biden as appearing as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory" rather than an intentional violator of classified document laws.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, had been seeking the materials through Freedom of Information Act requests for over two years, arguing for the public's right to review the recordings and transcripts that informed Hur's decision.
Previously, a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that any remaining privacy concerns from the redacted materials likely did not outweigh the public interest in their disclosure. The court filing came after Biden's attorneys had sought an emergency request to block the release of the materials.
Hur's report referenced the recorded conversations multiple times, noting that some exchanges were "painfully slow" and that Biden sometimes struggled to recall events. These descriptions fueled scrutiny of his cognitive abilities during his presidential re-election campaign.
In February, the Justice Department reversed its earlier stance and indicated its intent to disclose redacted versions of the recordings and transcripts to plaintiffs and the House Judiciary Committee.