Appeals Court Rejects Biden Effort to Shield Ghostwriter Interview Tapes
by Simon Kent · BreitbartEfforts by Joe Biden to block release of audio recordings and transcripts of interviews he gave to a memoir ghostwriter in 2017 ahead of his election to president were denied late Monday by a federal appeals court.
AP reports a divided three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit suspended its decision until Aug. 3 to allow more time for Biden to consider another appeal.
The outlet notes the panel’s 2-1 ruling found there is a “substantial” public interest in disclosing the musings Biden wants to shield from view.
Redactions to the 70 hours of recordings would help protect Biden’s privacy, the majority noted.
“We conclude that any remaining incursion on personal privacy from disclosure of the now-redacted materials likely does not outweigh the public interest in disclosure,” the court wrote, per the AP.
Biden appealed after U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled in June the public interest in the material outweighed whatever privacy rights Biden had.
Mark Zwonitzer, who worked with Biden on his two memoirs, interviewed the octogenarian Democrat at his home in 2016 and 2017. Biden’s lawyers maintain the conversations were candid, personal and intended to remain beyond public purview.
As Breitbart News reported, Biden will release his memoir this fall at a date set for two weeks after midterm elections in which Democrats seek to regain control of Congress.
The book’s publisher Little, Brown and Company told the Associated Press of the planned publication date for a tome the former president reportedly received a $10 million advance for.
It will be released on November 17.
More to come…