• Audio recordings reveal President Biden’s memory struggles during special counsel interviews, showing frequent pauses and forgetfulness.
• A new book exposes Biden’s physical and cognitive decline and efforts by aides to hide it from the public.
• Despite challenges, Biden remained engaged in interviews but showed little memory of handling classified documents after his vice presidency.

New audio recordings from October 2023 reveal President Joe Biden struggling to remember important facts. He often paused for long moments and slurred his words. Biden had trouble recalling when his son died, when he left office as vice president, the year Donald Trump was elected, and why he had classified documents at home. These memory lapses raised serious questions about his mental sharpness. Prosecutor Robert Hur described Biden as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” This helped Hur decide not to charge Biden with mishandling classified documents. Republicans criticized this decision, especially since Trump faced charges for a similar case.

White House Fought Hard to Keep Audio Recordings Hidden From Public

Biden’s White House refused to release these recordings last year. They argued the interviews were protected law enforcement materials. They claimed Republicans only wanted to distort the audio for political reasons. Democrats and Biden’s team also denied any problems with his mental state. They said Biden was sharp and accused prosecutors of political bias. However, the audio shows that Hur and his co-counsel, Marc Krickbaum, treated Biden respectfully during the interviews. This contradicts claims that the process was unfair or hostile.

New Book Exposes Biden’s Decline and Aides’ Efforts to Hide It

At the same time, a new book called Original Sin by Axios and CNN reporters claims to reveal more about Biden’s mental and physical decline. The authors say Biden’s aides worked hard to keep this decline hidden from the public. The book offers detailed accounts of how Biden’s condition worsened during his presidency. This has created a tough debate among Democrats and the media about how to handle Biden’s legacy. The audio recordings add another layer to this story by showing Biden’s real-time struggles with memory.

Audio Captures Biden’s Slow, Halting Speech and Long Pauses

The recordings come from two interview sessions on October 8 and 9, 2023. Each session lasted about three hours. The Justice Department released transcripts earlier, but the White House fought to keep the audio secret. The audio reveals Biden’s voice was quiet and sometimes a whisper. Many long silences filled the gaps while he searched for words or dates. His lawyers often helped him remember key facts. For example, they reminded him that his son Beau died in 2015 and that Trump was elected in 2016.

Emotional Moments Highlight Biden’s Struggle to Speak Clearly

The interviews took place in the White House Map Room. A grandfather clock ticking could be heard in the background. This ticking added a sense of time passing slowly during Biden’s halting speech. One emotional moment came when Biden talked about his book Promise Me, Dad. The book tells the story of his son Beau’s death from brain cancer at age 46. Biden spoke slowly and carefully about how Beau was like his “right arm” and his other son Hunt was like his “left.” The pauses between words were long, and the clock’s ticking made the silence even more noticeable.

Biden Stayed Engaged But Often Forgot Basic Facts

Despite these memory problems, Biden remained engaged during the interviews. He joked and made light comments. He answered most questions in a general way. However, he showed little memory of how he ended up with classified documents after leaving the vice presidency. On the first day, October 8, Biden seemed slower and more forgetful. This was also the day after the Hamas attack on Israel, which may have distracted him. It took over two hours for Hur to figure out how the documents got into Biden’s personal desks and file cabinets. Biden often shifted to unrelated topics during questioning.

On Second Day, Biden Sounded More Alert and Focused

The next day, October 9, Biden appeared more alert and focused. He shared stories with more energy. Throughout the interviews, Biden sounded like a grandfather telling memories rather than a defendant facing serious charges. He talked about several topics unrelated to the investigation. He described how President Obama in 2016 did not want him to run because Hillary Clinton had a better chance of winning. He also discussed the detailed woodwork in his home and his Corvette that comedian Jay Leno once drove. Biden mentioned the impact of Gutenberg’s printing press on Europe, Richard Nixon sweating on TV during a debate, and a time he shot a bow and arrow in Mongolia.

Biden Showed Confusion Explaining Classified Document Issues

At one point, Biden asked, “Am I making any sense to you?” as he tried to explain how classified documents are handled. The interview got tense when Biden’s lawyer, Bob Bauer, stopped prosecutor Krickbaum from pushing Biden to change his story about why he kept a document related to Afghanistan. Bauer instructed Biden to answer “I don’t know” instead of guessing. When asked if he kept the document for historical reasons, Biden said, “I guess I wanted to hang onto it just for posterity’s sake.” Bauer quickly tried to stop Biden from making speculative statements that could cause legal trouble.

Lawyers Stepped In Often to Help Biden Avoid Risky Answers

Prosecutors also questioned Biden about a 2017 recording made by his book’s ghostwriter. Biden had said, “I just found all the classified stuff downstairs.” Biden could not remember exactly what he meant by that statement. White House lawyers Ed Siskel and Rachel Cotton helped Biden find the right words or dates many times during the interviews. They worked to protect him from giving answers that might harm his case.

Hur’s Report Found No Clear Evidence to Charge Biden

Hur’s final report said the evidence did not prove Biden acted willfully or criminally. Biden cooperated with investigators and appeared forgetful but not dishonest. Hur wrote that it would be hard to convince a jury to convict a former president in his 80s of a serious crime. The report compared Biden’s cooperation to Trump’s refusal to cooperate in his own classified document case.

Biden’s Team Stands by Released Transcripts, Ignores Audio Questions

Biden’s spokesperson Kelly Scully said the transcripts had already been released and that the audio just confirmed what was public. Prosecutors and Biden’s lawyers did not comment when asked. This leaves many questions unanswered about Biden’s cognitive state during the interviews.