Biden's audio recordings with his memoir writer: What the recordings and transcripts published by the Oversight Project reveal

The Oversight Project announced on Monday the release of recordings of interviews that then-Vice President Joe Biden held with his ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer, between 2016 and 2017, during the process of writing his memoir "Promise Me, Dad." The organization claims it obtained the audio recordings after more than two years of litigation.

According to the group, the release of the recordings brings an end to a legal battle that began in March 2024, when, together with the Heritage Foundation, it filed a lawsuit to obtain the files. In a statement, it asserted that both the Biden administration's Department of Justice and the then-president's private attorneys opposed their release.

The Oversight Project maintains that the recordings show that Biden's disclosure of classified information was "far more serious" than described by Special Counsel Robert Hur in his investigation into the handling of confidential documents.

According to the organization, at various points during the interviews, Biden acknowledges that the material he is reviewing is likely classified, after which there are extensive sections of audio redacted for containing confidential information. The group asserts that these redactions pertain to the disclosure of classified information from the CIA, the Department of Defense (DOD) and other matters related to national security.

The report maintains that "the silence in the redactions clearly demonstrates that Biden knowingly and deliberately disclosed classified information to his ghostwriter" during the book's production.

The Oversight Project also asserts that the recordings show that, less than six months after leaving the vice presidency, Biden was already exhibiting a decline that, according to the organization, prevented him from recognizing the restrictions on sharing highly sensitive information, including national security documentation with a high level of compartmentalization.

It also asserts that the audio recordings reflect "significant cognitive decline" dating back to 2017. According to the group, in the unredacted portions of the recordings, Biden repeatedly expresses feeling confused and having difficulty recalling information.

Among the examples cited by the organization are moments when the then-former vice president forgets the name of Congressman Jim Clyburn and makes statements such as "I'm so confused" and "I can't remember", which, according to the report, demonstrate that Joe Biden was not lucid in 2017.