Washington, D.C. – In a seismic partisan broadside, the Republican-led House Oversight Committee unleashed a 100-page report Tuesday, branding former President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen for executive actions “null and void” due to alleged cognitive decline and a White House cover-up. Titled “The Biden Autopen Presidency: Decline, Delusion, and Deception in the White House,” the document accuses Biden’s inner circle of deceiving the public while aides wielded unchecked presidential power.
Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) hailed the findings as a reckoning: “As Americans saw President Biden’s decline with their own eyes, Biden’s inner circle sought to deceive the public, cover-up his decline, and took unauthorized executive actions with the autopen that are now invalid.” Drawing from 14 depositions with top aides—including chief of staff Jeff Zients and physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor, who invoked the Fifth Amendment—the report spotlights lapses in the “president’s decision binder.” It claims no records prove Biden’s direct approval for thousands of pardons, commutations, and orders, including his son’s clemency and death-row sentence reductions.
The committee’s letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi demands a DOJ probe into 4,245 acts of clemency, urging prosecution of aides for potential fraud. “Barring documentation establishing a record of President Biden’s decision-making, the Committee deems void President Biden’s executive actions that were signed using the Autopen,” it states, potentially reopening cases against violent offenders and political allies.
Democrats dismissed the salvo as a “sham investigation.” Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) called it a “distraction” amid the government shutdown, insisting Biden made all decisions. Legal experts warn of hurdles: Presidents from Truman to Trump have used autopens, and no precedent exists for voiding pardons. Biden’s spokesperson retorted: “This confirms President Biden led with full authority.”
President Trump, reveling in the chaos, posted on Truth Social: “Biden’s fake presidency EXPOSED—autopen crimes! DOJ, get to work!” As midterms near and the shutdown drags, Comer’s gambit risks court smackdowns but energizes the base. For Biden’s legacy, it’s a digital dagger: Were his signatures strokes of policy, or shadows of staffers?
