“Whoever controlled the autopen controlled the presidency” – The Oversight Project
It was recently reported that most documents former President Biden signed were done with an autopen. So far, they found only three authentic signatures done by his hand: two executive orders and the announcement that he was dropping out of the 2024 Presidential race.
In a post to his Truth Social account, President Trump specifically mentioned Biden’s pardons for his family, General Milley, J6 committee members, and Dr. Fauci that were signed just hours before he left office. He argued that under these circumstances, they are void. He doesn’t argue that they are void just because of the autopen, but because of Biden’s cognitive decline while in office. “In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them! The necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden. He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime,” Trump added in his post. On Sunday, he clarified that whether or not Biden’s autopen-signed pardons and executive orders are void should be decided by the courts.
It’s not uncommon for official Presidential documents to be signed with an autopen, but it’s now being questioned if the former President knew what was being signed in his name with the autopen. Since day one of Biden’s presidency, aides hid his mental decline from the American people. This included rearranging his schedule to accommodate how he was doing day-to-day. One national security official told an aide at the time, “He has good days and bad days, and today was a bad day so we’re going to address this tomorrow.”
This is not the first time the former President has been suspected of not knowing about major signing on to major policy decisions he and his administration made. In a February 2024 Oval Office meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson, President Biden admittedly did not know he had signed an executive order to freeze new liquid natural gas export permits just a month before. Johnson described Biden as “stunned” when he asked him why he signed off on it, and that Biden claimed, “I didn’t do it”. Biden eventually remembered that he did sign an executive order, but it was to simply study the effects of fuel. Johnson remarked, “I walked out of that meeting with fear and loathing because I thought, ‘We are in serious trouble – who is running the country?’”.
Biden’s autopen signed pardons for six criminals on December 30, 2022 – while the President was vacationing in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Oversight Project released a memorandum detailing the 32 times an autopen was used during Biden’s presidency to sign clemency warrants for thousands of people.
The White House told Fox News that President Trump does not use an autopen to sign legally binding documents like pardons. President Trump told reporters on Air Force One that while he uses an autopen for correspondence, it’s shameful to use one when signing important documents like pardons. The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel determined in 2005 that the president is permitted to use an autopen to sign bills into law, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a ruling in February that said the absences of “a writing does not equate to proof that a commutation did not occur.” The court added, “The constitutional text is thus silent as to any particular form the President’s clemency act must take to be effective,” in its opinion.
