...
By Dan Gooding and Gabe Whisnant
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
United States Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday in a post on X that the Department of Justice is "reviewing" Joe Biden's use of the autopen for pardons after House Republicans unveiled their long-promised report on the former president's actions.
Bondi posted on X, "My team is reviewing the Biden administration’s reported use of autopen for pardons. Thank you to @RepJamesComer for his GREAT work on this. We look forward to working alongside @GOPoversight to deliver accountability for the American people."
Newsweek reached out to the office of Joe and Jill Biden via contact form for comment on Tuesday afternoon.
Read More on News
Why It Matters
The Trump administration's move to investigate former President Biden's actions comes after Trump has long complained that the DOJ had been "weaponized" against him. The current president and Bondi have argued that they are looking to target individuals from the previous administration who had broken the law.
...
What To Know
Bondi's announcement followed the release of a report from House Republicans earlier Tuesday, alleging that Biden's mental state declined to such a degree during his term that his advisors took actions without his knowledge, including signing pardons with an autopen.
It focuses heavily on the pardons he granted in office, including to his son, Hunter Biden, based on depositions with close Biden aides.
“The cost of the scheme to hide the fallout of President Biden’s diminished physical and mental acuity was great but will likely never be fully calculated,” the report reads. “The cover-up put American national security at risk and the nation’s trust in its leaders in jeopardy.”
Biden has strenuously denied he was unaware of his administration’s actions, calling such claims “ridiculous and false.” Democrats on the House Oversight committee denounced the probe as a distraction and a waste of time.
Who Did Joe Biden Pardon?
According to the Department of Justice website, Biden pardoned 75 individuals across his term, including just over a dozen on his last full day in office. Names on the list include his brother, James Biden, and his son Hunter Biden.
Why is Pam Bondi Looking Into Joe Biden's Pardons?
The report on Biden was largely compiled over several months before the shutdown began. Based on interviews with more than a dozen members of Biden’s inner circle, the report offers few new revelations, instead drawing broad conclusions from unanswered questions.
It includes repeated references to polls of Biden’s approval rating and perceptions of his public gaffes and apparent aging, much of it publicly known.
It alleges a “cover-up of the president’s cognitive decline” orchestrated by Biden's inner circle and takes particular aim at Biden’s doctor, Kevin O’Connor, who invoked his Fifth Amendment right against testifying. Republicans also singled out senior aides Anthony Bernal and Annie Tomasini, who similarly pleaded the Fifth. All three “should face further scrutiny" from the Justice Department, Republicans said.
Republicans also sent a letter to the D.C. Board of Medicine urging that O'Connor face “discipline, sanction or revocation of his medical license” and “be barred from the practice of medicine in the District of Columbia.”
The report does not include full transcripts of the multiple hours of recorded testimony witnesses delivered before the committee. It repeatedly scolds Biden officials and Democratic allies for defending Biden's mental state.
While the report claims that record-keeping policies in the Biden White House “were so lax that the chain of custody for a given decision is difficult or impossible to establish," Republicans do not offer any concrete instances of the chain of command being violated or a policy being enacted without Biden's knowledge.
...
What People Are Saying
House Speaker Mike Johnson, speaking to reporters Tuesday: "No previous president had an autopen, or had the audacity to have people signing things on their behalf when they didn't even know what was in it...
"I used to be a constitutional litigator. I would love to take this case and go into the court and make that way to set the precedent. You can't allow a president to check out and have unelected, faceless people making massive decisions for the country."
Representative James Comer, chair of the House Oversight Committee, said: "The Biden Autopen Presidency will go down as one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history. Our report reveals how key aides colluded to mislead the public and the extraordinary measures they took to sustain the appearance of presidential authority as Biden’s capacity to function independently diminished.
"We are calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct a thorough review of these executive actions and scrutinize key Biden aides who took the Fifth to hide their participation in the cover-up. The D.C. Board of Medicine must also review the actions taken by President Biden’s physician to hide his true condition."
Democratic Party Ranking Member on the committee, Robert Garcia, in a press release: “While House Republicans obsess about President Biden’s health, they are ripping away healthcare from 17 million Americans and spiking premiums. It’s clear the only person’s health that Republicans care about is Joe Biden’s. Despite this sham investigation, every White House official testified President Biden fully executed his duties as President of the United States.
"The testimonies also make it clear the former President authorized every executive order, pardon, and use of the autopen. Oversight Democrats are committed to working towards a better future for the American people. Now it’s time for Republicans to actually come back to work and reopen our government."
What's Next
Democrats and legal experts have warned that broad scrutiny of executive actions could pose future legal headaches for the Trump administration and congressional Republicans, who also often enact policies directed by lawmakers through devices like the presidential autopen.
This story includes reporting by The Associated Press.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines