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Republicans have demanded that the government release the recording of a 2023 interview in a classified documents inquiry, arguing that it might offer evidence of a decline in Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s mental acuity.
May 16, 2025Updated 6:46 p.m. ET
The Trump administration plans to release, as early as next week, audio recordings of President Joseph R. Biden Jr. being interviewed by the special counsel who investigated his handling of classified information, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mr. Biden was interviewed at the White House in October 2023 by Robert K. Hur, who had been appointed to investigate whether crimes had been committed related to classified documents found at Mr. Biden’s former office and home after he left the Obama administration.
In 2024, Mr. Hur announced he would not seek to file any charges in the case, in part because Mr. Biden would probably appear to be a sympathetic figure to a jury — an older man with a poor memory.
The planned release comes as Democrats are grappling with new revelations about Mr. Biden’s health in office, and efforts by his aides and other party leaders at the time to quash concerns about his ability to run for re-election.
About a month after Mr. Hur’s announcement, officials released a transcript of his interview with Mr. Biden. But for more than a year, Republicans have been demanding that the government also release the audio recording, arguing that it might offer evidence of a decline in Mr. Biden’s mental acuity.
“The transcripts were released by the Biden administration more than a year ago,” said Kelly Scully, a spokeswoman for the former president. “The audio does nothing but confirm what is already public.”
The Biden administration kept the audio secret, asserting executive privilege over it. Officials also said releasing such a recording could make it harder for prosecutors to get cooperation from witnesses in future investigations.
Officials at the Trump White House and Justice Department have disagreed with those Biden-era arguments and plan to release the audio, according to two people familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe a decision that has yet to be announced.
The decision was prompted in part by a court deadline next week for the Trump administration to take a position in a lawsuit over the recording.
Devlin Barrett covers the Justice Department and the F.B.I. for The Times.
Tyler Pager is a White House correspondent for The Times, covering President Trump and his administration.
