Feds discover transcripts of Biden chats with biographer

The Justice Department told a federal judge late Monday that it has located transcripts it previously denied having of President Joe Biden’s talks with a biographer that played a role in the recently completed criminal investigation into Biden’s handling of classified material before he became president.

In the wake of a report special counsel Robert Hur issued in February that described Biden as “a well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” the Justice Department has been swamped with Freedom of Information Act requests and lawsuits demanding access to various records related to Hur’s probe.

Some of the requests came from news outlets, while others originated with conservative groups apparently seeking to obtain information that could reinforce doubts about Biden’s mental acuity and fitness for the presidency.

Nagging concerns about those issues, particularly after a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump last month, helped drive Biden’s announcement Sunday that he is dropping his bid for reelection.

It’s unclear whether his exit from the race will affect the handling of Hur’s materials by the Justice Department, which has argued that the release of audio of Biden’s interviews with Hur would violate the president’s privacy, lead to potential abuse — such as deepfakes — and deter other witnesses from agreeing to recorded interviews.

Biden asserted executive privilege over the audio recordings of his interviews in a bid to head off House Republicans’ effort to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to release the recordings.