New released Joe Biden audio tapes show ex-president muttering aimlessly during classified docs probe: 'It's confusing me'By BREANNE DEPPISCH, US SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER
Published: 18:54 EDT, 27 July 2026 | Updated: 19:24 EDT, 27 July 2026
A trove of secretive audio tapes showcasing former President Joe Biden's 'poor memory' and 'diminished faculties' have been released.
The recordings were made by the ghostwriter who assisted in the publication Biden's 2017 book Promise Me, Dad. They were shared by Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, who began publishing the audio files for the first time Monday evening.
The conversations, and Biden's recall issues at the time, were on stark display.
In one of the sit-downs, Biden struggled to speak at all for several minutes, and only after he was prompted by the ghostwriter, Marc Zwonitzer.
'It strikes me that there were three big things going on,' he told Biden, after several painful moments passed. 'I think Iraq, Central America, and Ukraine seemed to be the things that were chewing up a lot of a lot of your time.'
Biden, in response, muttered quietly and struggled to string together complete or decipherable sentences. His first audible response detailed a discussion with Kevin McCarthy, who 'it looked like was going to be speaker, or ... the number two guy.'
Biden then launched into a lengthy diatribe about energy infrastructure, while Zwonitzer listened on – at times, chiming in with specific dates or details to ostensibly aid the struggling lawmaker.
In another portion, Biden, prompted by Zwonitzer about a previous subject they discussed, struggled to remember any of the details or subjects discussed in the earlier sit-down.
‘The next thing I have here is classified,’ Biden said at one point.
'Some of this may be classified ...' Biden can be heard telling Zwonitzer in another discussion.
'It's not marked classified, but ...' Biden said, his voice trailing off. No classified materials were published in the book, but the discussions, and the documents, were cited in an explosive 2024 special counsel report.
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