House Republicans are intensifying their focus on former President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen to sign sensitive pardons and executive orders during the final days of his administration, including several involving close family members.
Amid new reports raising concerns about Biden’s cognitive decline, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) has expanded his investigation to determine whether Biden personally approved the actions or if those in his inner circle acted independently to shield individuals such as Hunter Biden, James Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and others from potential criminal prosecution.
For the past year, many of the players involved were saying “they had just talked to Biden, [and] he was tip-top, great physical condition, he was at the top of his game,” Comer said in a recent interview. “Now they’re coming back saying, ‘Yeah, looks like he was in mental decline.’”
A key focus of the investigation is identifying who within the Biden White House authorized the use of the autopen—a device traditionally reserved for signing routine resolutions, executive orders, or legislation requiring a formal signature. Chairman Comer and other critics argue that, in light of President Biden’s reported cognitive decline, it is highly likely he was unaware of how his signature was being used by those around him.
“What we need to know is, who was calling the shots at the White House?” he asked Fox News’ Jesse Watters, noting that documents with “legal implications” must be “signed personally” by the president.
“It can’t be signed by an autopen. You use autopens for proclamations and mass letters and things like that. So I think if we can understand more about the autopen and whether Joe Biden authorized it, I think this could lead to a lot of those executive orders being kicked out in court,” he added.
PLAY:
Asked about the status of subpoenas in the investigation, Comer added, “The letters have already gone out to the staffers as well as Dr. [Kevin] O’Connor,” the president’s personal physician.
At Thursday’s press briefing, Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy pressed White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on whether she is prepared to provide evidence that the Biden administration used an autopen to sign executive orders and pardons during the final days of his presidency.
“I can tell you here at this White House, the president signs any document that has legal implications,” Leavitt responded. “The president signs every executive order. He signs every proclamation. He signs pretty much every document that is needed for the president’s signature, with the exception of maybe some letters to children. From what we have heard and seen, that was not the case in the previous administration. And the president is raising good questions that are worth looking into.”
