Facing a federal investigation into his use of an autopen to sign executive actions, former President Joe Biden insists he was in control of the White House for the past four years.
“I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false,” Biden said in a statement on Wednesday.
President Donald Trump declared his predecessor’s last-minute pardons void early this year after the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project discovered the pardons were signed by a mechanical autopen rather than by the president’s own hand. The think tank argued the use of an autopen suggests the octogenarian was not in control of executive actions during his presidency.
“This is nothing more than a distraction by Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans who are working to push disastrous legislation that would cut essential programs like Medicaid and raise costs on American families, all to pay for tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations,” Biden said in his statement.
Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to open investigations into top Biden officials in a presidential memorandum Wednesday to determine whether they deceived the public about the president’s mental state and unconstitutionally exercised his authorities. The memorandum mandates an investigation into the administration’s use of an autopen to sign policy documents.
“Given clear indications that President Biden lacked the capacity to exercise his Presidential authority, if his advisors secretly used the mechanical signature pen to conceal this incapacity, while taking radical executive actions all in his name, that would constitute an unconstitutional wielding of the power of the Presidency, a circumstance that would have implications for the legality and validity of numerous executive actions undertaken in Biden’s name,” the order said.
This comes as House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has expands his congressional investigation into the coverup of Biden’s mental decline. Comer asked five senior Biden officials Wednesday to voluntarily appear for interviews before the House Oversight Committee.
“The American people deserve full transparency and the House Oversight Committee is conducting a thorough investigation to provide answers and accountability,” Comer said at the time.
Biden was recently diagnosed with late-stage prostate cancer, adding to questions about the president’s mental fitness and who wielded executive power during his presidency.