Trump administration pushes to release Joe Biden's interview with Robert Hur - everything you need to know

The Trump administration wants to access the audio of an interview with former President Joe Biden that was blocked from release, according to reports.

On 8 October 2023, then-US president Biden sat down with Robert Hur, the then-special counsel, for a five-hour interview that investigated his handling of classified documents. Hur concluded he would not bring criminal charges against Biden.

In the resulting report, released in February 2024, it was Hur’s assessment that a jury would be unlikely to convict Biden because they would see him as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory”.

The line in the report raised questions about Biden’s mental fitness and gave Republicans ammo in their claims around his cognition during the presidential elections.

Now, Politico reports that the Trump administration wants to go another step further and access the audio of the interview, despite Biden’s assertion of executive privilege to block the release of the tapes citing the effect it could have on the witnesses involved in the investigation.

By 20 May, the Justice Department (DOJ) must respond to freedom of information act lawsuits brought by various conservative groups and say whether it will stand by this executive privilege to block the tapes from being released.

Politico reports, “DOJ officials will also have to indicate whether they will continue to press other arguments for keeping the audio secret, including that disclosure would invade Biden’s privacy and that it could interfere with future investigations by making high-level officials less willing to cooperate.”

Some Trump supporters have made unfounded claims of a cover up and have been pushing for the audio to be made accessible.

“The Hur audio will confirm what is one of the biggest cover ups in American history,” Mike Davis, a Trump ally, told Politico.

This comes even as transcripts of the interview have been released.

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