Judicial Watch Sues Justice Department for Communications with Axios on Biden-Hur Audio, Epstein Memo

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice for communication the department had with the media outlet Axios regarding the outlet’s “exclusives” on the release of audio of then-President Joe Biden’s August 2023 interview with then-Special Counsel Robert Hur regarding Biden’s handling of secret documents and the July 2025 memo that states there is no Jeffrey Epstein “client list” (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:25-cv-03225)).

 Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit after the Justice Department failed to comply with two FOIA requests. In May 2025, Judicial Watch filed a FOIA request for the Justice Department’s contacts with Axios regarding the Biden-Hur audio recordings. Judicial Watch also had submitted a July 2025 FOIA request for Justice Department’s communications with Axios pertaining to the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein.

Judicial Watch has been at the forefront of these investigations.

Regarding the Biden-Hur records, in March 2024, Judicial Watch filed the first FOIA lawsuit and was the lead plaintiff asking for the Special Counsel’s interviews of Biden (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:24-cv-00700)). In June 2024, the Justice Department admitted that the Special Counsel’s transcript was inaccurate.  

Justice Department emails in a related case showed White House staffers suggesting edits to transcripts of Biden’s interview with Hur (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:24-cv-02176)). 

In May 2025, Judicial Watch forced the release of the audio recordings of Biden’s October 2023 interview with Hur. The recordings are available here: justice.gov/storage/Biden-interview-with-Hur-part-1-October-8th.mp3 and justice.gov/storage/Biden-interview-with-Hur-part-2-October-9th.mp3. In July 2025, Judicial Watch reached a settlement in which the government agreed to pay $10,000 for attorneys’ fees and other costs associated with the successful lawsuit that forced release of the audio tapes of Biden’s interview with Hur.

Regarding Jeffrey Epstein, in April 2025, Judicial Watch filed a FOIA lawsuit against the Justice Department for records on the identities of clients or associates of Epstein (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:25-cv-01056)). In July, the Justice Department reported to the court that it was continuing to search for and review records, which is at odds with the leaked, unsigned and undated Justice Department/FBI memo that suggested no more Epstein records would be disclosed to the American public. The memo was first disclosed late on July 6. 

Judicial Watch also sued in July for records related to Epstein’s victim Virginia Louise Giuffre.

“The American public deserves to know the details surrounding the leaks of ‘exclusive’ Justice Department information on the Biden-Hur interviews and the Epstein client list memo,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said.

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