Biden Tapes Released After Legal Battle Include Classified References
Wertynews.com – After a lengthy legal dispute, the Biden tapes released after legal proceedings have finally been made available to the public. These audio recordings, totaling approximately 70 hours, were referenced in a special counsel’s 2024 report documenting that former President Joe Biden kept notebooks with classified material at his home. CBS News obtained access to more than two hours of these conversations.
What the Recordings Reveal
Biden, now 83, can be heard in one recording advising his ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer:
“Some of this may be classified … So, be careful. I’m not sure … It’s not marked classified but —”
Later in the same session, he adds:
“The next thing I have here is, um, this is classified …”
These conversations were recorded while Biden worked on his 2017 autobiography “Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose.” The final published book contained no classified content allegations.
Legal Proceedings and Investigation
The Biden tapes released after legal challenges drew attention when Justice Department special counsel Robert Hur mentioned them in his February 2024 report about classified document handling. Hur began investigating after finding documents with classified markings from Biden’s vice presidential years in his residence and office. The special counsel ultimately chose not to recommend criminal charges.
Hur’s report described Biden as “struggling to remember events,” mentioning “diminished faculties” and “painfully slow” conversations from 2016. The recordings show Biden occasionally speaking haltingly, though memory issues from that era appear mild.
At one point, Biden loses his place, saying:
“Alright — what was I going to ask you? Something else… Uh… um. Oh gosh. I can’t think of anything else.”
The Fight for Release
The Oversight Project, a conservative nonprofit focused on “exposing and rooting out corruption in government,” spent two years pursuing the recordings’ disclosure. Biden’s legal team initially blocked publication but stepped back following negative court decisions.
Biden’s spokesperson, TJ Ducklo, told CBS News:
“President Biden’s conversations for a book a decade ago that discussed his late son are private, and were provided to the Department of Justice on the express condition they stay that way.” Reversing course and making them public is just the latest example of this Administration weaponizing the DOJ for political retribution. It’s wrong, and while President Biden disagrees with today’s decision, he also respects the courts and the vital role an independent judiciary plays in a healthy democracy.”
Classified Content Mentions
When Hur’s report came out, Biden told journalists:
“I did not share classified information. I did not share it with my ghostwriter.”
He also explained his confusion about how boxes with classified documents ended up in his garage.
The CBS News recordings show Biden describing potentially classified meetings to Zwonitzer, including
“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 10, 2016 recording, Biden tells Zwonitzer he has notes the White House didn’t know about:
“I have extensive notes over this period of time… They didn’t know I have this,”
During a February 16, 2017 recording, Biden says:
“I just found all the classified stuff downstairs”
Hur cited this remark as proof that Biden kept classified material in his Virginia rental home, even though he had left office one month earlier. The special counsel noted Biden’s tone was “matter-of-fact” and suggested he might have quickly forgotten about the documents.
However, Biden seems more careful in some recordings. On November 3, 2016, while still vice president, he mentions the
“non-classified part of my discussion with POTUS.”
Hur’s Conclusion
Hur investigated whether Biden illegally stored and shared classified information, pointing to examples like Biden, then 75 years old, showing Zwonitzer
“classified notes from a National Security Council meeting”
from the Obama era.
Nevertheless, Hur concluded that Biden did not intentionally violate laws regarding classified materials, noting the former vice president’s genuine confusion about document locations and his consistent efforts to keep sensitive information separate.
