기사 메일전송
US House Oversight Committee: Biden's Autopen-Related Executive Action is 'Illegal'
  • NNP=Hong Seong-Gu
  • October 29, 2025 at 8:59 AM
기사수정
  • Referred to the Ministry of Justice for investigation… Former Biden administration officials strongly protest



The Republican-led House Oversight Committee has urged the Department of Justice to investigate all executive actions taken by the Biden administration, citing evidence that some of former President Biden's orders and pardons may have been made without his personal approval.


In a 91-page report released Tuesday morning, the committee stated that its investigation found no record of Biden approving several executive orders, including presidential pardons and commutations.


It also suggested that his aides may have used an autopen, a mechanical device that replicates a president's signature, to sign off on actions "without his knowledge."


"For these reasons, the committee deems actions taken by autopen to be null and void, and finds that numerous executive actions taken by the Biden administration, particularly pardons, were unlawful," the report said.


Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the committee, urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the scope of the issue.


"The committee asks that you investigate all executive actions taken by the Biden administration and determine whether they received formal approval from the President of the United States," Comer wrote in a letter to Bondi.


The report claims that Biden's aides made significant executive decisions on his behalf during the final months of his presidency but failed to properly document his approval.


It further alleged that aides used an autopen to issue pardons and commutations to the Biden family and other individuals "without confirmed presidential approval or proper documentation."


The report, which was largely drafted in the months preceding a government shutdown, is based on interviews with more than a dozen of Biden's confidants.


According to Newsmax, the document also includes references to polls on Biden's approval ratings and information on public mistakes he made during his tenure.


The committee's findings stem from interviews with 14 former Biden administration employees.


The report also called for the Justice Department to closely examine the chief aides of Annie Tomasini and Anthony Bernal, who invoked their Fifth Amendment rights during questioning, and to consider the legal ramifications.


Republicans have questioned Biden's use of an autopen since he left office, but Biden and his team have denied these claims as baseless.


"This investigation into baseless allegations has confirmed what has been clear from the start: President Biden made decisions during his term," a spokesperson said Tuesday. "There was no conspiracy, no cover-up, and no wrongdoing."


"Congressional Republicans should stop focusing on political retribution and instead work to end the government shutdown," the spokesperson added.


Newsmax reported that multiple aides told investigators that President Biden's schedule and work pace noticeably slowed during his presidency, citing individuals who gave closed-door testimony at congressional hearings this year.


Former Chief of Staff Jeff Zients also said the president's decision-making speed had slowed, noting that policy discussions that once required three meetings now took four meetings to reach the same conclusion.


Zients also spoke about internal discussions on how to address public concerns about Biden's mental acuity.


Senior officials, including the president's physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, discussed whether the president should undergo cognitive testing, which Dr. O'Connor said he would consider.


However, even as signs of his aging were described, with Biden being 82 years old at the time of his departure, some former officials strongly denied the core premise of the Republican investigation: that his staff had effectively usurped the powers of the presidency.


"There was no nefarious plot of any kind among the President's senior staff, and no plot to hide the President's mental state from the American public," Steve Ricchetti, a longtime Biden confidant, told the committee.


Legal scholars have pointed out that there is no mechanism to retract a presidential pardon once it has been granted.


Biden had previously stated that he personally approved all pardons and commutations at the end of his term, and in July, he told The New York Times that Republicans were "lying" about his condition and his use of an autopen.


The House report stated that former White House Secretary Neera Tanden oversaw the autopen procedure and that Zients approved its use.


Under the George W. Bush administration, the use of an automatic signature device for signing documents is permitted when the president personally approves it, according to a Justice Department opinion.


The report also accused O'Connor of concealing Biden's cognitive decline and referred him to the D.C. Medical Commission for investigation.


Biden withdrew from his re-election campaign last year due to concerns about his health after a poor performance in a presidential debate.


The White House and the Justice Department are separately reviewing Biden's pardons, and President Donald Trump ordered a formal investigation earlier this year into whether Biden's aides had improperly used an autopen during his presidency.


By US NNP Representative Reporter Hong Seong-gu / Special Correspondent NNP info@newsandpost.com


What do you think of this article?
recommend
0
great
0
moved
0

프로필이미지

NNP=Hong Seong-Gu More by this author

정기구독배너
Go to Mobile Site