House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) has disclosed that his committee has identified staffers who unleashed Joe Biden’s autopen when he was clearly in a state of mental decline.
During that period, Biden issued thousands of clemencies and presidential pardons, including to his own family members and administration officials, at a rate never seen in recent history.
However, the use of his autopen extends deep into his presidency when he issued numerous executive orders, of which he was likely unaware.
In January 2024, current House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) recounted how the former President was unaware that he had canceled liquified natural gas (LNG) exports to Europe, suggesting that someone had misused his autopen to sign the order. “Sir, why did you pause LNG exports to Europe?” Johnson asked. “Liquefied natural gas is in great demand by our allies. Why would you do that?”
Surprisingly, Biden answered, “I didn’t do that.”
In March 2025, President Trump also highlighted the potentially unauthorized wielding of a sitting president’s autopen and declared Biden’s politically motivated pardons null and void.
“Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!” Trump wrote. “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.”
On Saturday, March 17, 2025, Trump called an audio released by Special Counsel Robert Hur that was related to the autopen use a “major part” of the alleged crime.
Meanwhile, appearing on Fox News, Rep. Comer announced that his committee had identified staffers behind the alleged unauthorized use of Biden’s autopen. “You are going and looking at who is controlling this autopen, because Joe Biden—he’s demonstrating that he doesn’t have all the cognitive capabilities he once had,” Fox News host Jason Chaffetz said.
Rep. Comer agreed that Biden was “clearly … in significant mental decline,” raising “questions about who was actually making the decisions.”
He added that the autopen use was “not just with the pardons he issued, but many of the executive orders that the courts are now using to ‘Trump-proof’ the government.”
“Many of these executive orders, as well as the pardons—including those involving Biden’s entire family—as a result of our investigation, were all signed with the autopen.”
Comer added that “many, many months before the heavy use of the autopen,” Biden was incoherent and unable to make decisions. He also disclosed that his committee had identified shadowy figures behind the use of Biden’s autopen. “We think we’ve identified who the staffers are. Jason, you all have done great work with that over at Heritage Oversight.” The Oversight Project had identified that all of Biden’s pardons had the same autopen signature, raising suspicions about their authenticity.
He also disclosed that his committee would summon the individuals behind the heavy wielding of Biden’s autopen to give a written disposition, of which failure to comply would force the committee to issue subpoenas. “We’re going to bring everyone we believe was involved in any role in the use of the autopen. We’re going to invite them to come in for a transcribed interview. If they decline, they will receive a subpoena and face a full-blown deposition.”
