WASHINGTON – A 2023 audio recording of President Joe Biden speaking haltingly and having memory lapses is the latest in a series of recent disclosures that have reopened a debate over Mr Biden’s physical and mental fitness while in office and prompted fresh recriminations among Democrats.

The recording, released by the news outlet Axios on May 16 night, documents a four-minute portion of Mr Biden’s interview with Mr Robert K. Hur, a special counsel who investigated his handling of classified information.

Mr Hur had concluded early 2024 that “no criminal charges” were warranted in the case. But in clearing the president, Mr Hur portrayed Mr Biden as an “elderly man with a poor memory,” based off an hours-long interview with the president, inflaming concerns that Mr Biden’s fitness for office had significantly declined.

The audio clip did not reveal new exchanges between Mr Hur and Mr Biden.

But it gives a fuller picture of why Mr Hur described Mr Biden as he did, capturing the president’s whispery voice and the long pauses in his speech.

Trump administration officials have decided to release the fuller audio, according to two people familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe the decision, which has yet to be announced.

The audio clip comes as a forthcoming book – written by Mr Jake Tapper of CNN and Mr Alex Thompson of Axios – has provided new details on Mr Biden’s mental and physical decline and chronicled how Mr Biden’s advisers stamped out discussion of his age-related limitations.

Among other issues, the book recounts Mr Biden forgetting the names of longtime aides and allies, and outsiders who had not seen the president in some time being shocked at his appearance.

Top Democrats who closed ranks to defend Mr Biden in his moment of crisis and vouched for his fitness for office have now had to rationalise those statements.

In an interview on the “Talk Easy With Sam Fragoso” podcast last month, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts – who had urged Mr Biden to remain in the race to the end – visibly struggled not to laugh when the host asked if the president had at the time been “as sharp as you”.

“I said I had not seen decline,” Ms Warren said, adding that Mr Biden “was sharp, he was on his feet”.

“Senator, ‘on his feet’ is not praise,” Mr Fragoso said as Ms Warren smiled and chuckled. &ld...