DOJ Refuses to Release Audio From President Joe Biden's Classified Docs Interview Over AI and 'Deep Fake' Manipulation Fears
June 3 2024, Published 6:30 p.m. ET
The Justice Department refused to release the audio files from President Joe Biden’s classified documents interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The department cited concerns about possible artificial intelligence and "deep fake" manipulation as the reason why they would not release the audio files.
In the latest development just days after President Biden used his executive privilege to block the release of his October 2023 interview with Special Counsel Hur, the DOJ submitted a court filing to fight the release of the recordings.
According to Associate Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer, the DOJ is concerned that there is already enough audio from Biden and Hur’s classified docs discussion to create an artificial intelligence version of the interview.
Weinsheimer argued that more recordings would only increase the chances that the original interview would be artificially manipulated – especially by artificial intelligence and "deep fake" technologies.
“If the audio recording is released, it is easy to foresee that it could be improperly altered and that the altered file could be passed off as an authentic recording and widely distributed,” Weinsheimer wrote in the DOJ’s latest court filing on Friday.
He continued, “The passage of time and advancements in audio, artificial intelligence, and 'deep fake' technologies only amplify concerns about malicious manipulation of audio files.”
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, the DOJ’s Friday court filing came just days after President Biden used his executive privilege to block the audio release of his October 2023 classified docs interview with Special Counsel Hur.
The move came shortly after the House Judiciary and House Oversight Committees subpoenaed U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland for the interview recordings. House Republicans have since threatened to hold Garland in contempt of Congress over the matter.
"It is the longstanding position of the executive branch held by administrations of both parties that an official who asserts the President’s claim of executive privilege cannot be prosecuted for criminal contempt of Congress," DOJ official Carlos Felipe Uriarte wrote in a letter regarding Biden’s decision last month.
He added, “With the information you now have, the Committees ought not to proceed with contempt and should instead avoid unnecessary and unwarranted conflict.”
While Special Counsel Hur and the DOJ released transcripts from Biden’s October 2023 classified docs interview, House Republicans alleged that the transcripts were edited to protect President Biden – particularly after Hur described the president as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
Never miss a story — sign up for the RadarOnline.com newsletter to get your daily dose of dope. Daily. Breaking. Celebrity news. All free.
House Speaker Mike Johnson criticized President Biden’s decision to block the interview recordings via executive privilege.
Johnson also claimed that Biden was “afraid” to release the audio recordings and was maliciously “suppressing their release.”
“President Biden is apparently afraid for the citizens of this country and everyone to hear those tapes,” House Speaker Johnson charged last month.
“They obviously confirm what the special counsel has found, and would likely cause, I suppose, in his estimation, such alarm with the American people that the president is using all of his power to suppress their release.”