Trump Should Release Robert Hur Audio

President Donald Trump has already given us thousands of files on the JFK assassination, and now he’s pushing for the Epstein files to see the light of day. But there’s something else we need from him — the audio from special counsel Robert Hur’s interview with Joe Biden.

Hur declined last February to pursue charges against then-President Biden for retaining top-secret documents. Hur described Biden as an “elderly man with a poor memory” and said that “based on our direct interactions with and observations of [Biden], he is someone for whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt.”

“It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him — by then a former president well into his eighties — of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness,” the report continued.

Hur also found Biden’s memory “appeared to have significant limitations” and said Biden was unable to remember the start and end date of his vice presidency. Biden could not recall specific dates in relation to his son’s death “even within several years” and had a “hazy” recollection “when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him.”

The report undercut claims from the left that Biden was “sharp as ever” and possessed “strong mental acuity.” And surely if (as David Harsanyi wrote in these pages), “all of this is true … why [was] the president trying to suppress audio of the interview?”

Of course it was because none of the Democrats’ carefully crafted illusion of a clear-headed commander in chief was true. In fact, Biden only further reinforced concerns about his mental state when he gave a speech about the report’s findings, accusing Hur of raising the topic of his son’s death.

“How in the hell dare he raise that?” Biden asked — but it was Biden who brought up the topic, according to a transcript of the interview.

Republicans issued subpoenas for a copy of the audio tapes after the report came out, with concerns raised as to whether the transcript was edited and does not match the audio. Such a concern was only bolstered when Hur later testified before the House Judiciary Committee in March of 2024 that the White House asked he make “certain edits” to the report.

The Biden administration refused to budge, claiming executive privilege which in turn meant that then-Attorney General Merrick Garland had no requirement to turn the tapes over to Congress. But as Harsanyi noted, “we already have the transcripts of the conversation. How could the interview fall under executive privilege when we already know what was discussed?”

To answer Harsanyi’s rather rhetorical question: Only if the Biden administration needed an excuse to hide the audio. And they’d only need an excuse to hide the audio if it, for example, veered from the transcript or if it would implicate Biden as being senile.

Republicans voted 216-207 to hold Garland in contempt of Congress in June for refusing to turn over the audio of the interview. Republicans later failed to hold Garland in “inherent contempt” one month later.

Yet while the administration was fighting to prevent the release of the tapes, Biden was only proving his defenders wrong. Biden was led off stage by his former boss, President Barack Obama, at a fundraising event and appeared forgetful and incompetent during his only televised debate with President Donald Trump. Biden later said he “almost fell asleep” during the debate.

It’s clear the Biden administration was playing gymnastics trying to hide the audio tapes from the public so as not to incriminate Biden’s senility. But Americans deserve the truth, even if it is one year too late.

So, Mr. President, please release the Robert Hur audio tapes.

Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2