Trump orders investigation of Biden

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President Donald Trump on Wednesday directed a wide-ranging investigation into former President Joe Biden and officials in his administration, accusing his aides of using “autopen” signatures to cover up his "cognitive decline" and assert presidential power.

Trump frequently uses Biden as a political foil and has sought to undo a number of policies from his predecessor's administration since he returned to office.

The announcement Wednesday directs the White House counsel and Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate whether anyone "conspired to deceive the public about Biden's mental state and unconstitutionally exercise the authorities and responsibilities of the President." It is an escalation of an issue that Trump and his allies have frequently raised, possibly paving the way for Republicans to argue that many of Biden’s actions as president were invalid.

"This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history," 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."

Trump has acknowledged using the autopen himself in office. In March, he said he turned to it “only for very unimportant papers,” such as responses to letters.

“But to use them for — for what they’ve used them for is terrible,” he added, referring to the Biden administration.

In Wednesday's memo, Trump further contended that if Biden’s aides “secretly” used the pen to conceal his alleged decline while they were taking executive actions in his stead, “that would constitute an unconstitutional wielding of the power of the Presidency, a circumstance that would have implications for the legality and validity of numerous executive actions undertaken in Biden’s name.”

Biden defended his record in a statement Wednesday, arguing that the probe was a “distraction” from Trump and Republican lawmakers.

“Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false,” Biden said.

Trump has previously claimed without evidence that Biden used an autopen to sign pre-emptive pardons for the members of Congress who investigated the events surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol, rendering them “void.”

Autopens have long been a mechanical tool to reproduce signatures in the White House, with Barack Obama being the first president to use it to sign legislation, according to The Associated Press.

Previous administrations have pointed to a 2005 Office of Legal Counsel memo stating that the 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.”