The Biden Tapes: Classified Redactions And The Very Little He Could Remember

Newly released tapes of former Democrat President Joe Biden and his ghostwriter were released late Monday and include heavy redactions of classified information and rampant instances of memory lapses.

Oversight Project has released nearly three hours of previously unheard audio of Biden dictating his life to the ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer, for his memoir “Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship and Purpose,” the Washington Times reported.

The tapes were released after a U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit shot down Biden’s attempt to keep the Department of Justice (DOJ) from releasing tapes, following a FOIA request from the Heritage Foundation. The interviews occurred in early 2017, and the memoir was released Nov 17, 2017. (RELATED: Biden Loses Bid To Bury Ghostwriter Tapes That Could Shed Light On Classified Docs, Cognitive Decline)

Across about 2 hours and 45 minutes of the recordings, at least 35 minutes and 40 seconds are withheld as part of 123 separate redactions. The indication is that Biden was discussing sensitive or classified information with the ghostwriter during these portions. About 21 percent of the entire set of interviews were redacted.

During other portions of his interview, Biden seems to reference classified materials and discuss them with Zwonitzer.

“Some of this may be classified, so be careful,” Biden says after referencing his notes. During another instance, Biden says, “The next thing I have here is um, oh this is classified…”

Audio recordings that former President Joe Biden fought for years to keep private have now been released. CBS News received two hours of audio recordings, from roughly 70 hours of tapes cited in a 2024 special counsel's report, which said Biden kept volumes of notes at his home… pic.twitter.com/Zv9uIRqNAW

The former vice-president at the time said, “In ’09 I just found all the classified stuff downstairs,” admitting to keeping classified documents in his home.

Biden also struggles to remember certain aspects of his life, at one point stating, “My whole team was always, I had a team that said—including the two guys who I think were with me, were—oh God the guy at Princeton now, the economist, good guy, was our chief economic advisor, not Kaufman. I’ll think of his name.” Biden continues, “And the guy at the University of Chicago, with the funny name.”

“I should write the names down because I keep forgetting them,” Biden continues after Zwonitzer figures out who he was referencing.