Former President Joe Biden [AP=Yonhap News]

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative U.S. think tank, has released audio recordings and transcripts of former U.S. President Joe Biden from 2016 and 2017, claiming they prove the allegations of mishandling classified documents that once caused a stir in American politics.

On the 28th (local time), the "Oversight Project," an initiative under The Heritage Foundation, published on its website a two-hour audio recording and transcript of an interview Biden conducted with a ghostwriter at his home for his memoir, "Promise Me, Dad."

In the interview dated February 16, 2017, former President Biden told the writer, "I just found all the classified stuff downstairs," and added, "I sent a 40-page handwritten memo to the President (Barack Obama) opposing the troop surge in Iraq—no, in Afghanistan."

In an interview on April 24 of the same year, former President Biden also remarked, "Be careful, some of this is classified. I'm not sure. It's not marked classified, but..."

While referencing diary entries concerning National Security Council (NSC) meetings during his time as Vice President under the Obama administration, he also noted, "Some of that is classified."

The transcripts, provided by the U.S. Department of Justice in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by The Heritage Foundation, contain significant redactions due to the inclusion of classified information. The Heritage Foundation argues that this serves as belated proof of Biden’s intentional mishandling of classified materials.

Previously, former President Biden faced allegations of mishandling classified documents obtained during his vice presidency. While Special Counsel Robert Hur, appointed by the Biden administration, secured the interview as evidence, he ultimately declined to prosecute, describing Biden as a "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."

The Heritage Foundation requested the release of the transcripts from the Justice Department in 2024, but the Biden administration's DOJ denied the request. The documents were eventually provided after the start of the second Donald Trump administration. Former President Biden’s team had initially filed a lawsuit against the DOJ to block the release but later dropped it.

In the transcripts, former President Biden also showed signs of cognitive decline, struggling to recall the names of long-time supporters like Congressman Jim Clyburn or Professor Alan Krueger, who served as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) during the Obama administration.

The Heritage Foundation asserted, "Less than six months after leaving office, Biden’s cognitive decline was already so advanced that he either failed to recognize that he should not be sharing extensive classified information—some of it extremely restricted national security intelligence—or his cognitive decline was already quite advanced as of early 2017."

Following his 2017 memoir, former President Biden is scheduled to release an additional memoir titled "Promise Me, America," which covers his presidency and the process behind his decision to withdraw from his re-election bid, approximately two weeks after the midterm elections this November.

A portion of former President Biden's interview transcript [Captured from the Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project website]