Joe Biden Ghostwriter Tapes Reignite Classified Docs Controversy

Joe Biden's ghostwriter got more than family stories during their recording sessions ... he also got repeated warnings that the material in front of them might be classified.

Newly released audio from Biden's 2016 and 2017 interviews with Mark Zwonitzer captures the former prez leafing through papers while working on his memoir, "Promise Me, Dad" -- and repeatedly pumping the brakes over what he was reading aloud.

At one point, Biden says ... "Some of this may be classified, so be careful with it. I'm not sure ... it's not marked classified, but ..."

In another recording ... Biden announces, "The next thing I have here is, um, this is classified."

The biggest red flag comes in February 2017 -- one month after Biden left the vice presidency -- when he tells Zwonitzer, "I just found all the classified stuff downstairs."

Biden also discusses high-level meetings involving the CIA, the Situation Room and the Department of Defense ... and says the White House did not know he had extensive notes from his time in the Obama administration.

The recordings were later reviewed by Special Counsel Robert Hur, whose 2024 report found evidence Biden retained and disclosed classified material after leaving office. Hur declined to bring charges ... citing possible defenses, Biden's cooperation and concerns a jury would view him as an elderly man with a poor memory.

Biden publicly insisted in 2024 he never shared classified information with his ghostwriter. No classified material appeared in the finished memoir.