President Donald Trump on Friday said documents signed by former President Joe Biden using an autopen will no longer have any “force or effect,” due to allegations they were signed without his full authorization.
Trump said around 92% of the executive orders and other documents Biden issued were signed using an autopen for the former president’s signature. The president said he is “cancelling” the future implementation of those orders in the wake of investigations probing accusations that Biden’s senior aides hid his decline from the public by exercising presidential power in his name without his full understanding or consent.
“The Autopen is not allowed to be used if approval is not specifically given by the President of the United States,” Trump wrote in a message to Truth Social.
“The Radical Left Lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the Presidency away from him. I am hereby cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden, because the people who operated the Autopen did so illegally,” the president continued.
Trump added that if Biden pushed back against allegations that orders were signed using his signature without his full consent, “he will be brought up on charges of perjury.”
The president’s announcement marks the latest development in Republicans’ investigation into allegations that Biden and his inner circle illegally used the autopen.
In late October, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) presided over the release of a congressional report on the matter, saying the findings raise “constitutional and criminal concerns” about the validity of executive actions taken during Biden’s term in office, including sweeping acts of clemency. In one example cited by the committee, 32 of 51 clemency warrants were signed using digital copies of Biden’s signature, without any contemporaneous documentation linking Biden to the decisions, leaving no evidence to show the president willingly agreed to sign those warrants.
The committee’s findings echoed previously publicized records from the Justice Department documenting the concern of some officials at the agency over the Biden team’s use of the autopen.
The House Oversight committee interviewed multiple senior Biden staffers as part of the probe, including Jeff Zients, who served as Biden’s chief of staff during his presidency.
Comer said Zients confirmed some concerns about Biden’s mental decline during the interview. The former chief of staff testified that he sought to tailor Biden’s appearances to reduce stress and avoid long walks or stairs, told lawmakers that Biden’s “decision-making slowed” during the final stretch of his presidency, and that Biden’s speech stumbles and memory lapses occurred during his time in office. Zients said he recommended a full medical workup to Dr. O’Connor, the White House doctor, after Biden’s June 27 presidential debate, implying it should include cognitive testing.
Trump has raised concerns for months that evidence belies Biden’s consistent statements that he was in full charge of the autopen.
BIDEN’S CHIEF OF STAFF GAVE MOST DAMNING TESTIMONY YET IN AUTOPEN PROBE
“Look, he was never for open borders. He was never for transgender for everybody. He was never for men playing in women’s sports,” Trump said over the summer. “He changed all of these things that changed so radically. I don’t think he had any idea what was — frankly, I said it during the [presidential] debate, and I say it now — he didn’t have much of an idea what was going on.”
“Whoever used the auto pen was the president, and that is wrong. It’s illegal, so bad, and it’s so disrespectful to our country,” Trump concluded.
