The Department of Justice under Attorney General Pam Bondi is diving into the murky waters of Joe Biden's use of an autopen for pardons during his presidency.
The investigation, spurred by a detailed House Republican report released Tuesday, targets allegations that Biden's administration acted without his full awareness, including signing off on pardons with an autopen, as reported by Newsweek.
While Biden has pushed back hard, dismissing these claims as "ridiculous and false," the scrutiny raises serious questions about who truly held the reins in his final days in office.
The House Republican report, unveiled Tuesday, paints a troubling picture of Biden's mental decline, alleging his advisors took drastic steps to maintain an illusion of control.
It zeros in on pardons, including those for his son Hunter Biden and brother James Biden, among 75 total during his term, with over a dozen on his last full day.
Representative James Comer, chair of the House Oversight Committee, didn't hold back, stating, "The Biden Autopen Presidency will go down as one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history." His words cut to the core of a narrative that unelected aides may have overstepped, a notion that demands answers beyond partisan bickering.
The report, compiled over months with interviews from over a dozen of Biden’s inner circle, suggests a deliberate effort to obscure the former president’s diminishing capacity.
It singles out Biden’s doctor, Kevin O’Connor, and senior aides Anthony Bernal and Annie Tomasini, all of whom invoked their Fifth Amendment rights, refusing to testify.
Republicans have gone as far as urging the D.C. Board of Medicine to discipline O’Connor, even pushing for his license revocation, a bold step that signals how deeply they view this as a breach of public trust.
At the heart of the controversy is the autopen itself, a device House Speaker Mike Johnson criticized sharply, saying, "You can't allow a president to check out and have unelected, faceless people making massive decisions for the country."
Johnson, a former constitutional litigator, expressed eagerness to set a legal precedent against such practices, highlighting a broader concern about the integrity of executive decisions.
While the report lacks concrete evidence of specific policies enacted without Biden’s knowledge, the lax record-keeping it describes fuels suspicion that the chain of command was, at best, muddled.
Democrats, led by Ranking Member Robert Garcia, have fired back, calling the investigation a distraction while accusing Republicans of neglecting pressing issues like healthcare access for millions.
Legal experts caution that this probe could boomerang, creating future headaches for the current administration if executive actions face similar broad scrutiny.
As Bondi’s team digs deeper, the saga of Biden’s pardons, whether signed by hand or machine, stands as a stark reminder that transparency in governance isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a necessity. The American people deserve clarity, not shadows, and this investigation might just be the first step toward ensuring that trust isn’t further eroded.
