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Recordings from special counsel Robert Hur’s 2023 investigation into former President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents surfaced Monday, exposing significant memory difficulties that contradict Democratic assertions about the report’s accuracy. The audio tapes, obtained by the Oversight Project through public records requests following a legal battle, capture Biden struggling to recall basic names and dates during interviews with ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer in 2016 and 2017, as well as during his 2023 session with Hur’s office.
When Hur’s report was released in 2024 characterizing Biden as “an elderly man with a poor memory,” prominent Democrats swiftly attacked the special counsel’s conclusions as unnecessary and politically motivated. Then-Vice President Kamala Harris led the criticism, telling reporters the report was “inaccurate and inappropriate” and “clearly politically motivated, gratuitous.” Representative Dan Goldman of New York similarly accused Hur of editorializing and including irrelevant material beyond his investigation’s scope.
The newly released recordings reveal Biden repeatedly unable to identify economic advisers and struggling to recall details of a memorial service he attended. In one April 2017 exchange, Biden acknowledged the problem directly, stating he would need to write names down because he kept forgetting them. Other Democratic figures, including former FBI General Counsel Andrew Weissman and Senators Jack Reed and Tina Smith, echoed claims that Hur improperly highlighted the memory issue.
Biden was eventually removed from the 2024 presidential ticket following a poor debate performance against Donald Trump in July 2024. Harris subsequently became the Democratic nominee without winning a primary election. A Biden spokesperson told CBS that the recordings, made for a book discussing Biden’s late son, should have remained confidential and accused the administration of weaponizing the Justice Department through their release.
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