Judicial Watch files request for release of Biden-Hur interview audiotapes

Conservative watchdog Judicial Watch filed a request in federal court on Friday for the release of the audio recording of President Joe Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur.

Biden exerted "executive privilege" over the audio recordings after the House of Representatives subpoenaed Attorney General Merrick Garland for their release. The House received a transcript of the interview, but are seeking the actual recordings amid concerns over the president's mental ability.

Judicial Watch accused the Biden administration of seeking to rewrite the "Freedom of Information Act" (FOIA) and claimed the administration asked the court to ignore precedent in blocking the release of the tapes.

“We hope the court rejects the Biden Justice Department’s political request to rewrite FOIA law to hide the Biden tapes,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a news release shared with Just The News. “The Biden administration wants to destroy FOIA in order to protect Joe Biden.”

The organization said the White House has already admitted that the transcript of Biden's interview was not entirely accurate because it took out filler words, and that words could have been repeated in the interview, but not in the transcript.

"Judicial Watch argues that the recordings should be released 'because an open question remains about whether Special Counsel Hur’s conclusion that President Biden should not be prosecuted for his mishandling of classified records is supported by the evidence,'" the organization said in the release.

The request comes after Hur's report recommended that no criminal referral be brought against the president for his handling of classified documents during his tenure as vice president. Hur claimed that Biden would likely present himself in court as a "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory," if he was tried in the case.

The organization also said the release of the recordings was important to ensure that Hur "appropriately pursued justice" in the case, when Garland's Justice Department is prosecuting former President Donald Trump over his own handling of classified documents. 

"In addition to President Trump being both President Biden’s former political opponent and the current Republican nominee in the upcoming Presidential election, President Trump is the only former president or vice president to be prosecuted for such actions," the non-profit said.