A former Trump administration Justice Department official has weighed in on audio recordings recently made public from Joe Biden’s interviews with his memoir ghostwriter, claiming they reveal significant disclosures of classified information rather than the private family matters cited as justification for their delayed release.
Jeff Clark, who served in the Trump DOJ, reviewed tapes from interviews conducted between 2016 and 2017 with Mark Zwonitzer, the ghostwriter for Biden’s memoir “Promise Me, Dad.” The recordings were created during Biden’s time as former Vice President and had been the subject of protracted legal battles.
The tapes were originally part of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents. While Hur prepared transcripts during his investigation, the Justice Department withheld the actual audio recordings until a recent court ruling favored the Trump administration’s position on their release.
Allegations of Federal Law Violations
According to PJ Media, Clark pointed to a specific federal statute, 18 USC 798(d), and suggested Biden may have violated it through his conversations with Zwonitzer. Clark raised questions about why Hur’s investigation did not pursue prosecution under this law or seek forfeiture of the reported $8 million book advance Biden received.
The former DOJ lawyer stated his team was reviewing the recordings and anticipated releasing what he characterized as “bombshells.” He emphasized that the tapes demonstrated Biden had disclosed what Clark described as “massive amounts of classified information” to his ghostwriter.
Privacy Claims Called Into Question
The Biden administration and subsequently Biden’s private attorneys engaged in approximately two years of legal maneuvering to prevent release of the recordings, frequently citing privacy concerns as justification for keeping them confidential.
Clark disputed this rationale after reviewing portions of the material. “I’ve listened to a fair amount of the tapes at this point and so far I have not come across anything that deals with a private family matter,” he stated, according to the report. “So I conclude the privacy angle was by and large a massive misdirection play.”
He further noted that the bulk of the documents released alongside the tapes related to “the illegal retention of classified information,” which was the focus of Hur’s investigation. Clark characterized the privacy arguments as “a legal feint organized by Joe Biden’s lawyers” that consumed substantial legal resources.
Public Review Encouraged
Clark invited the public to listen to the recordings themselves and share their own analysis, stating he wanted to “crowd source” reactions. The tapes were made available through YouTube for public access.
The release of these materials comes during the 250th year since America’s founding and follows Hur’s earlier investigation, which examined Biden’s retention of classified documents at various locations, including his Delaware residence. Hur’s report drew attention for its characterization of Biden’s memory issues but did not result in criminal charges.
The debate over these recordings highlights ongoing tensions around presidential handling of classified materials and the extent to which such information can be shared with individuals lacking appropriate security clearances, such as ghostwriters working on memoirs.
Source: pjmedia.com — https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2026/07/27/former-trump-lawyer-says-biden-tapes-hidden-because-of-illegal-classified-docs-scandal-n4955508
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