Judge Denies Biden Injunction but Grants Three-Week Stay on Ghostwriter Recordings Release

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich denied former President Joe Biden's request for a preliminary injunction on June 19, 2026, clearing the way for the Justice Department to release redacted audio and transcripts of his interviews with ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer. The ruling permits the material to go to the Heritage Foundation and the House Judiciary Committee.

Friedrich determined that Biden was unlikely to succeed on the merits and that the Justice Department's decision to release the files did not constitute an abuse of discretion. Heavy redactions had reduced Biden's privacy interest, Friedrich wrote, leaving material unrelated to family, illness, or death.

"Biden has not identified any public harm that would arise absent an injunction in this case," she stated in the memorandum opinion.

Biden's attorneys filed an emergency motion the same afternoon. D.C. Circuit to consider whether to intervene. " A spokesperson for Biden declined to comment on the ruling or the stay.

The Heritage Foundation submitted a Freedom of Information Act request in March 2024 seeking records related to Special Counsel Robert Hur's investigation. Hur declined to charge Biden in connection with classified documents but described the taped sessions with Zwonitzer as "painfully slow, with Mr.

" The Biden-era Justice Department had sought to withhold the files under FOIA exemptions before the Trump administration reversed that position.

A separate lawsuit filed by Biden seeking to block congressional access to the recordings remains pending before another judge.