Biden ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer steps out in NYC after startling Robert Hur testimony
He’s not a “ghost” writer anymore.
Mark Zwonitzer, who collaborated with President Biden on his two books, was spotted out and about in Manhattan Tuesday evening, hours after former special counsel Robert Hur testified before Congress about his decision not to charge Zwonitzer for deleting interview recordings upon learning of the federal investigation into Biden’s hoarding of national security information going back decades.
Zwonitzer — dressed casually in sneakers, a drab shirt and dark pants — strolled the streets of the Upper West Side with an unidentified woman at about 7 p.m. The pair dined at Bustan NYC restaurant on Amsterdam Avenue before heading back home around 8:15.
Hur’s Feb. 8 report outlined that Biden had shared classified information with Zwonitzer, 61, while the two worked on Biden’s 2017 book, “Promise Me, Dad.”
A private citizen, Zwonitzer was not authorized to receive classified information, raising legal questions against the president.
While Hur decided not to pursue charges against Biden, his office had considered charging the ghostwriter with obstruction of justice after he deleted recordings of past interviews with Biden upon learning of the investigation ordered by Attorney General Merrick Garland in January last year.
Zwonitzer told Hur’s team that he “was aware that there was an investigation” at the time he scrubbed the material, and added, “I’m not going to say how much of the percentage it was of my motivation.”
“When asked whether he deleted the recordings to try and prevent investigators from obtaining them, Zwonitzer said that he did not,” the report said, adding that the author claimed he didn’t think investigators would approach him for any information.
But Hur said Zwonitzer gave “plausible, innocent reasons” for destroying the recordings, and given that he was subsequently cooperative with the investigation, the special counsel decided there was “insufficient (evidence) to obtain a conviction,” according to the report.
The assessment drew blowback from some Republicans, who alleged a double standard when compared to the prosecution of former President Donald Trump and his aides over his retention of classified documents and obstruction of justice by hiding evidence.
Some recordings remained, however, and contributed to Hur’s investigation.
Key parts of Biden’s statements to Hur hinged on a recorded conversation that the now-president had with Zwonitzer, on Feb. 16, 2017, during which Biden said, “I just found all the marked classified stuff downstairs” at his post-vice presidential home in northern Virginia.
The president told Hur he did not recall finding classified material before their meeting, but the special counsel’s report said “classified documents about Afghanistan” had been removed by FBI agents from Biden’s Delaware garage in late 2022.
