**VERDICT: MISLEADING**
**Headline:** "Biden DOJ Claims Audio Evidence in Trump Case is 'Unlawful,' Moves to Block Release of Secret Tapes"
**The Claim:** A viral post is alleging that the Biden Department of Justice has argued in federal court that audio recordings implicating President Joe Biden in an alleged "influence-peddling scheme" are "illegally obtained" and has filed a motion to suppress them. The post claims the recordings, allegedly made by a former business associate, prove Biden pressured DOJ officials to protect his son Hunter from prosecution.
**What's Really Going On:**
This claim is a fusion of two real but unrelated stories, creating a misleading narrative.
1. **Real Case #1 (DOJ Audio Lawsuit):** The Biden DOJ is currently involved in a lawsuit brought by conservative media outlets (including Fox News, CNN, and the Associated Press) seeking the release of audio recordings of President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur regarding his handling of classified documents. The DOJ has argued *against* releasing the audio, but its reasoning is that releasing it could harm future investigations—**not** because the audio is "unlawfully obtained" or because it implicates Biden in a crime.
2. **Real Case #2 (Hunter Biden Tapes):** Separate recordings of Hunter Biden’s business associates discussing influence-peddling do exist, but they have already been widely publicized by right-wing media and released to the public. There is **no credible evidence** they were ever part of a DOJ motion to suppress in the Biden-Trump context.
**The Verdict:** The viral narrative is **false and fabricated**. No DOJ motion has been filed to "block" secret tapes of President Biden. The DOJ's action concerns an entirely different audio recording (the Hur interview), and the argument is about standard legal procedure, not a cover-up. The claim