Former President Joe Biden’s carefully protected classified documents narrative just took another hit, and this one comes with audio.

Recordings from his interviews with memoir ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer, gathered during special counsel Robert Hur’s investigation, have now been released to the public.

The tapes come after a long legal fight by Biden’s attorneys to keep them sealed.

After months of resistance, the Biden team dropped its lawsuit seeking to block release, and a judge accepted that dismissal Monday.

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The push to obtain the material came from Mike Howell, formerly of the Heritage Foundation and now with the Oversight Project.

Howell pursued the recordings and transcripts for more than two years through public records requests, arguing voters had a right to hear what Hur relied on.

The Oversight Project then published hours of Biden’s 2016 and 2017 conversations with Zwonitzer, who helped write “Promise Me, Dad.”

The audio shows Biden pausing often, speaking slowly, and struggling to recall names, dates, and events.

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That matters because Hur’s report described Biden’s conversations as “painfully slow” and said he was “struggling to remember events and straining at times to read and relay his own notebook entries.”

The tapes appear to back up that description in uncomfortable detail.

Oversight Project Vice President of Litigation Jeff Clark told Fox News Digital, “Joe Biden didn’t want these tapes to come out. But now they have.”

He added, “There is no joy in Bidenville today.”

Clark also said, “Robert Hur’s and Merrick Garland’s decision to give Biden a free pass for keeping and disclosing classified information must now be reexamined.”

That is exactly the question hanging over this whole episode, especially after years of Democrats pretending classified document rules only apply to their political enemies.

Hur investigated Biden’s handling of classified materials from his time as vice president under Barack Obama and as a U.S. senator from Delaware.

He declined to pursue criminal charges, saying prosecutors could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Biden willfully retained or disclosed the material.

Hur also wrote, “Mr. Biden's memory was significantly limited, both during his recorded interviews with the ghostwriter in 2017 and in his interview with our office in 2023.”

That line was widely discussed when the report came out, but hearing the recordings gives it a sharper edge.

In one recording, Biden warned Zwonitzer while discussing a 2014 Situation Room meeting, “Some of this may be classified, so be careful.”

He then added, “I'm not sure. It isn't marked classified, but....” That is not exactly the kind of casual aside that inspires confidence.

Another clip from April 24, 2017, shows Biden struggling to remember two economic advisers.

“I’ll think of his name,” Biden said, before adding, “I should write the names down because I keep forgetting them.”

Zwonitzer eventually supplied the name Alan Krueger after a long pause. For a man who spent decades selling himself as the smartest foreign policy adult in the room, the moment is not flattering.

The same day, Biden appeared unable to recall where he had been on a particular date.

He later remembered attending a memorial service for a fallen service member, but the name still escaped him.

Biden also circled back to a meeting with Ron Klain, saying, “But at any rate, back to there was I had a meeting with Ron Klain, and I don't know when.”

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The audio also captures him trying to place a lunch with former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.

“When he, when he came to me and I’ll get the date. Remind me when did Summers come to me to have lunch to it was when I was thinking about running.”

Later, Biden said, “Here’s what happened, before I forget. Don’t mind my train of thought. He also pledged to support me in 2016.”

The political problem for Biden and his defenders is obvious.

For years, Americans were told concerns about his mental sharpness were cheap shots, right wing noise, or edited clips, yet here are recordings from before his presidency showing the very issues critics raised.

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The public now has more than spin to review, and the Biden classified documents story looks a lot less tidy than the establishment wanted voters to believe.

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