Federal Court Rejects Biden's Bid to Block Release of Ghostwriter Interview Recordings

A federal appeals court has turned down former President Joe Biden's request to keep audio recordings and transcripts of his memoir interviews under wraps.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2 to 1 late Monday that there's a "substantial" public interest in releasing the material, though the court said specific parts would be blacked out to protect Biden's privacy.

The ruling won't take effect right away. The court put it on hold until August 3rd, giving Biden time to decide whether to appeal further.

Biden's lawyer argues the conversations were candid and personal, never meant for anyone else to hear.

The recordings came from an investigation by Special Counsel Robert Hur, who looked into how Biden handled classified documents from his time as a senator from Delaware and later as vice president. Hur ultimately decided not to file charges against Biden, and it was after that decision that Republicans in Congress pushed to get the interview material released.