House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan has subpoenaed President Biden’s ghostwriter in an effort to get any transcripts and recordings of his interviews with the president to prove that classified material was shared.
Special counsel Robert Hur’s report revealed that Mr. Biden read classified information from his personal notebook to ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer, who was going to write his memoir. Mr. Biden denies that he shared classified materials with the writer.
“Special Counsel Hur’s report unequivocally provides that ‘[d]uring many of the interviews with his ghostwriter, [President] Biden read from his notebooks nearly verbatim, sometimes for an hour or more at a time,’ and ‘at least three times [President] Biden read classified notes from national security meetings to [you] nearly verbatim,’” the subpoena cover letter said.
The committee pointed out that Mr. Hur’s report said that, after his investigation began, Mr. Zwonitzer tried to conceal some of the recordings and transcripts between him and the president.
Mr. Zwonitzer initially agreed to produce the materials that the committee asked for, but ultimately changed his mind, leading to the subpoena on Friday.
“On March 11, 2024—over two weeks after the return date on the original letter—your attorney informed the Committee you would not produce the documents without a subpoena compelling your cooperation,” the Ohio Republican wrote in the letter.
This subpoena comes as House Republicans have tried repeatedly to obtain materials related to Mr. Hur’s report. They have previously demanded transcripts, audio and video from the president’s interview with Mr. Hur. The transcript was released earlier this month.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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