President Donald Trump on Wednesday directed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to launch an investigation into former President Joe Biden’s reported use of an autopen to sign key documents during his time in office, as well as allegations that his administration concealed serious health concerns.
The presidential memorandum calls for an inquiry into whether Biden’s aides or other officials conspired to mislead the American public about his cognitive condition while continuing to execute presidential powers on his behalf.
“The Counsel to the President, in consultation with the Attorney General and the head of any other relevant executive department or agency, shall investigate, to the extent permitted by law, whether certain individuals conspired to deceive the public about Biden’s mental state and unconstitutionally exercise the authorities and responsibilities of the President,” the order states.
Republican lawmakers have long questioned Biden’s mental fitness and criticized his administration’s use of an autopen on official documents, including executive orders and pardons. Trump’s directive alleges that such signatures were used during a period of cognitive decline and resulted in unauthorized exercises of executive authority.
“This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history,” Trump said in the memo. “The American public was purposefully shielded from discovering who wielded the executive power, all while Biden’s signature was deployed across thousands of documents to effect radical policy shifts.”
The order instructs Bondi’s office to investigate who authorized use of the autopen, what documents it was used on and whether senior White House staff made agreements to obscure Biden’s health. It also calls for a full review of efforts that may have been made to suppress or dismiss concerns about Biden’s condition during his presidency.
In a White House fact sheet related to the order, Trump was quoted as asking, “The real question – who ran the autopen, OK? Who ran the autopen? Because the things that were signed were signed illegally, in my opinion.”
The fact sheet also documented that despite mounting concerns over Biden’s cognitive abilities, the White House issued more than 1,200 presidential documents, confirmed 235 federal judicial appointments and granted more pardons and commutations than any previous administration in U.S. history.
