4 highlights from the Biden tapes: Classified information disclosed, name mix-ups
1. Multiple redactions because of classified information
The most striking part of the transcripts and audio recordings is what is missing. Across the transcripts, which span 117 pages in length, there are multiple redactions. Nearly all of the second page of the transcript, which documents an interview on Oct. 10, 2016, is redacted, as is nearly all of the third page.
The pattern is most stark in the Feb. 16, 2017, interview: three consecutive pages (14, 15 and 16) show only who was speaking, with everything they said blacked out. That session alone also has roughly half of Pages 3, 4 and 5 redacted, along with a quarter of Page 8 and half of Page 13.
Certain names are redacted throughout the transcripts, including the names of the people who compiled them. About one-fifth of Page 10 of a transcript documenting an interview that took place on Nov. 3, 2016, is redacted, along with the bottom one-fourth of Page 22 and a few lines on Page 24.
Other sessions show similar patterns. Nearly all of Pages 2 and 3 from the Oct. 10, 2016, interview are redacted. An April 24, 2017, conversation has nearly all of Pages 7 and 9 through 14 blacked out, along with most of Page 8 and significant portions of Pages 22, 30, 31 and 42.
Two other April 2017 sessions — one on April 10 and another on April 26 — show similar redaction patterns spanning multiple consecutive pages. Even names are redacted throughout, including those of the people who compiled the transcripts.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
