Former president drops lawsuit after D.C. Circuit ruling
Joe Biden on Friday dropped a lawsuit in which he sought to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts of his interviews with a memoir ghostwriter, according to a notice of voluntary dismissal filed by his attorneys. The decision ends the legal battle and clears the way for the material to be turned over to a Republican-led congressional committee.
Biden’s attorneys filed the notice less than a week after a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected his bid to block the release. In a 2-1 ruling, the panel found a “substantial” public interest in disclosing the material that Biden had sought to keep under wraps.
Biden could have petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene or asked for a rehearing by the full D.C. Circuit, but chose not to pursue either option. The appeals panel had suspended its decision until Aug. 3, giving Biden additional time to consider his appellate options before he dropped the lawsuit.
The recordings were made before Biden was elected president, during the writing of his memoir.