Trump orders investigation into Biden
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President Biden in Chicago in April. Photo: Tannen Maury/AFP via Getty Images
President Trump directed administration officials to investigate former President Biden's use of autopen to sign documents in a Wednesday evening order that raised doubts about his predecessor's cognitive state.
The big picture: The probe into "whether certain individuals conspired to deceive the public about Biden's mental state and unconstitutionally exercise the authorities and responsibilities of the President" comes as House Republicans threaten to subpoena Biden aides over the former president's mental fitness.
- Biden, who has faced fresh scrutiny over his health this year after his cancer diagnosis and the release of the book "Original Sin," by Alex Thompson and Jake Tapper, said any suggestion that he wasn't making decisions in the White House was "ridiculous and false."
Driving the news: Trump and other Republicans have long questioned Biden's fitness to serve and the president shared a baseless conspiracy theory over the weekend claiming his predecessor had been "executed in 2020" and was replaced by clones or robots.
- Now, Trump has directed the counsel to the president, in consultation with Attorney General Pam Bondi and other officials, to investigate the Biden administration.
- The president alleged in the order that the 82-year-old Biden had "suffered from serious cognitive decline" for years.
- It became "increasingly apparent" in recent months that his predecessor's aides allegedly "abused the power of Presidential signatures through the use of an autopen to conceal Biden's cognitive decline and assert ... authority," he said.
- "Despite Biden's cognitive deficiencies, [his] White House issued over 1,200 Presidential documents, appointed 235 judges to the Federal bench, and issued more pardons and commutations than any Administration in U.S. history," per a Trump White House post on the order.
What we're watching: Trump officials will investigate "the circumstances surrounding Biden's supposed execution of numerous executive actions during his final years in office" and any alleged cover-ups, according to the order.
- This would include "the policy documents for which the autopen was used, including clemency grants, Executive Orders, Presidential memoranda, or other Presidential policy decisions," and "who directed that the President's signature be affixed."
- Biden is also facing Republican-led congressional investigations into his health and use of the autopen.
Reality check: Presidents have long used the autopen in office, with the third president, Thomas Jefferson, using a 19th-century precursor polygraph machine, per the Shappell Manuscript Foundation.
- The 38th president, Gerald Ford, acknowledged using the autopen and former President Obama is credited with being the first to sign legislation with one, in 2011.
- The 78-year-old Trump, who has also faced questions about his mental acuity, has acknowledged using the autopen on occasions such as "to send some young person a letter."
- A 2005 report from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel concluded that a president "need not personally perform the physical act of affixing his signature to a bill he approves and decides to sign in order for the bill to become law."
Between the lines: The investigation comes at a time when Republicans are eager to deflect attention from issues including anxiety about the economy and middling approval ratings.
- Trump has denounced as "fake polls" showing his approval ratings sinking.
Go deeper: Biden aides discussed wheelchair use if he were reelected, new book says
Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.
