美国哥伦比亚特区上诉法院以2-1的多数意见驳回了拜登阻止公开其与回忆录代笔人访谈录音的申请 [1]。法院认为，"公众利益在披露现已编辑的材料中很可能不会被个人隐私的任何剩余侵害所抵消" [1]。
这些录音来自拜登在2016年和2017年期间接受代笔人Mark Zwonitzer进行的采访 [1]。特别检察官Robert Hur在调查拜登处理机密文件事项时获得了这些录音 [1]。共和党国会议员在Hur拒绝对时任总统提起诉讼后要求披露这些材料 [1]。
在三人合议庭中，由奥巴马提名的法官Sri Srinivasan和由特朗普提名的法官Gregory Katsas支持多数意见，而由拜登提名的法官Florence Pan持不同意见 [1]。
根据裁定，上诉将被暂停至8月3日，以便拜登考虑进一步上诉 [1]。
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected President Biden's attempt to prevent the public release of recordings from interviews conducted with his memoir ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer, during 2016 and 2017. [1] A three-judge panel voted 2-1 to deny Biden's request, ruling that the public interest in disclosure outweighs any remaining privacy concerns, provided the materials are appropriately redacted. [1]
The court determined that "the public interest in disclosure will likely not be outweighed by any residual invasion of privacy in the edited materials." [1] The recordings were obtained by Special Counsel Robert Hur during his investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents. [1] Republican members of Congress sought the release of the materials after Hur declined to prosecute the sitting president. [1]
Judges Sri Srinivasan, appointed by President Obama, and Gregory Katsas, appointed by President Trump, comprised the majority opinion. [1] Judge Florence Pan, a Biden appointee, dissented. [1] The court has stayed the order until August 3 to allow Biden time to consider filing a further appeal. [1]