US judge rejects Joe Biden’s lawsuit asking to withhold memoir recordings

A United States judge has denied a petition from former Democratic President Joe Biden arguing his right to privacy would be violated should recordings he made for a memoir be made public. On Friday, US District Judge Dabney Friedrich, an appointee of President Donald Trump, ruled that the recordings could be released to the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank. Recommended Stories list of 3 items end of list The Trump administration had already authorised the release of the recordings and transcripts, which Biden made while out of public office with his ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer. Together, they released the 2017 memoir, Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose. In her 26-page ruling , Friedrich acknowledged that Biden was likely to suffer some reputational damage as a result of the recordings being released. Biden has long been scrutinised about whether his advanced age impeded his ability to serve as president during his term from 2021 to 2025. Previously, he served as vice president from 2009 to 2017. “The Court agrees that — on these facts involving the frank words of a public figure in his home — disclosure of the Zwonitzer materials risks irreparable harm to Biden’s privacy interests and his reputation,” Friedrich wrote. But she concluded that such harms may not be irreparable, and they do not supersede the public interest in releasing the files. …