Biden sues Department of Justice to block release of special counsel records

Former U.S. president Joe Biden moved a lawsuit suing the Department of Justice to block the release of special counsel records on Tuesday, May 26, 2026.

The special counsel led by Robert Hur, had probed Biden’s handling of the classified documents and the recordings pertaining to 2016 and 2017 make a key part of the probe.

The probe concluded that the former president read classified notebook excerpts to ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer, but Biden has denied the allegations.

Biden’s attorneys said in a lawsuit filed in Washington’s federal court that DoJ plans to release these files on June 15 to Congress and a conservative group, the Heritage Foundation.

“Every American, including a sitting or former Vice President, has a right to privacy in the personal conversations he has within his own home,” Biden’s attorney argued in the lawsuit.

They added, “And when the U.S. Department of Justice obtains that private information through a criminal investigation, the Department bears a particular responsibility to protect it from disclosure.”

At the center of the controversy are audio recordings and transcripts of Biden’s interview conducted at his home in 2016 and 2017 with Mark Zwonitzer, who worked with Biden on two of his memoirs.

The files were analysed by special counsel Robert Hur as part of his probe into the president’s improper retention of classified documents from his time as a senator and as vice president.

The report contains a 345-page investigation that questioned Biden’s age and mental competence but didn’t recommend any criminal charges against the then 81-year-old.