DOJ Refuses to Release Audio of Biden-Hur Interview

The Biden Administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) declared that it would not release the audio tapes of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s interview with Joe Biden, citing alleged concerns of potential “deepfakes” that could be made out of the audio.

As Fox News reports, the DOJ announced its decision in a court filing on Friday, in response to a legal challenge demanding that the tape be released despite Biden’s use of executive privilege to keep it hidden. Although the DOJ admitted that there are already deepfakes of Biden and Hur on the internet, using existing recordings of both men, the agency nevertheless refused to release the real tape due to fears of disinformation.

“The passage of time and advancements in audio, artificial intelligence, and ‘deep fake’ technologies only amplify concerns about malicious manipulation of audio files,” the DOJ’s statement read. “If the audio recording is released here, it is easy to foresee that it could be improperly altered, and that the altered file could be passed off as an authentic recording and widely distributed.”

The filing, written by Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer, went on to say that making the tape public would only “make it far more likely that malicious actors could pass off a deepfake as the authentic recording.”

“President Biden is apparently afraid for the citizens of this country and everyone to hear those tapes,” said Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) in response to the DOJ’s decision. “They obviously confirm what the special counsel has found, and would likely cause, I suppose, in his estimation, such alarm with the American people that the president is using all of his power to suppress their release.”

The interview in question took place in 2023 and lasted for approximately five hours. The transcript reveals numerous instances of Biden’s age and apparent senility truly settling in. Among other examples, he forgot which year he was first elected Vice President in, and forgot the year in which his own son, Beau Biden, died.

Following the release of the transcript, Biden went on to make several false statements regarding the specifics of the conversation. He accused Special Counsel Hur of first bringing up the subject of Beau’s death, when it was actually Biden himself who mentioned it first.