Joe Biden sues the Justice Department to prevent the release of private recordings

Former US President Joe Biden has launched legal proceedings against the Department of Justice to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts of private interviews conducted with his biographer between 2016 and 2017. The complaint was filed Tuesday in a federal court in Washington.

This legal action comes as the Justice Department plans to release these documents on June 15 to the House Judiciary Committee and the Heritage Foundation, an influential American conservative group. The recordings were used in Special Counsel Robert Hur's investigation into Joe Biden's handling of classified documents.

The investigation, conducted in 2023, concluded without criminal charges being brought against the former Democratic president. However, the Heritage Foundation subsequently sought access to the documents in the name of public transparency. According to the complaint filed by Biden, the Justice Department had previously argued that these materials were protected by exemptions in the law regarding access to government documents.

Joe Biden's lawyers are now accusing the department of having changed its position after the return of Donald Trump to the presidency. They believe that transmitting the documents to Congress would be a way to circumvent federal protections surrounding the confidentiality of these private exchanges.

The complaint asks the court to deem the parliamentary committee's request abusive and invalid, and to permanently prohibit the release of the recordings and transcripts. The Department of Justice has not yet issued a public comment.

The conversations in question were recorded at Joe Biden's home as part of the preparation for his 2017 book, "Promise Me, Dad." The book notably discussed the illness and death of his son Beau Biden, as well as his thoughts on a possible presidential run.