Trump orders investigation of Biden’s use of an autopen, claiming White House cover-up
The Hindu
Trump orders investigation into Biden's autopen use, House Republicans request interviews with Biden aides, alleging cover-up.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday (June 5, 2025) ordered his administration to investigate former President Joe Biden's use of an autopen to sign pardons and other documents, increasing the pressure on his predecessor as House Republicans also requested interviews with members of Biden's inner circle.
An autopen is a mechanical device that is used to replicate a person’s authentic signature, and Presidents have used them for decades. However, Mr. Trump has frequently suggested that some of Biden's actions are invalid because his aides were usurping presidential authority to cover up what Mr. Trump claims is Mr. Biden's cognitive decline.
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“This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history,” Mr. Trump wrote in a 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.”
Mr. Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Counsel David Warrington to handle the investigation.
Meanwhile, House Oversight Chairman James Comer of Kentucky, a Republican, requested transcribed interviews with five Biden aides, alleging they had participated in a “cover-up" that amounted to “one of the greatest scandals in our nation’s history.”
“These five former senior advisors were eyewitnesses to President Biden’s condition and operations within the Biden White House,” Mr. Comer said in a statement. “They must appear before the House Oversight Committee and provide truthful answers about President Biden’s cognitive state and who was calling the shots.”
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