Trump brands Biden ‘crooked’ as former Democrat president sues US Justice Department
The US President has criticised Biden for attempting to block the release of documents relating to his memoir
Donald Trump has accused Joe Biden of being a “crooked politician” after the Democrat sued the Justice Department to block them from releasing audio recordings and transcripts relating to his private memoir.
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The content was initially obtained by the special counsel investigating the former president's management of classified documents.
The lawsuit predominantly concerns audio recordings and transcripts of conversations between Biden and ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer while they were writing Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose between 2016 and 2017.
The US President criticised Biden's attempt to block the content from being released, while sharing a report about his legal action.
Taking to Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump wrote: “A Crooked Politician!!!”
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In a federal lawsuit filed on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., it is alleged that Trump’s Justice Department plans to release the materials to Congress and the right-wing Heritage Foundation, which filed its own lawsuit to obtain the material.
The Department of Justice previously claimed the documents were exempt from disclosure under public records law.
Biden’s attorneys argued that the disclosure would “constitute an unwarranted invasion of President Biden’s privacy.”
“Every American, including a sitting or former Vice President, has a right to privacy in the personal conversations he has within his own home,” they wrote.
“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.”
These files were scrutinised by special counsel Robert Hur during his investigation into Biden’s retention of classified documents from his time as a senator and vice president.
The year-long probe resulted in a 345-page report that challenged Biden’s age and mental competence but ultimately recommended no criminal charges, citing insufficient evidence for prosecution.
This is a separate legal battle from Biden’s efforts to block the release of audio from his interview with Hur.
In 2024, the then-Attorney General Merrick Garland was held in contempt of Congress for refusing to share the audio after the White House asserted executive privilege to protect it.