House Oversight Chair James Comer is escalating his scrutiny of former President Joe Biden, urging the Department of Justice to launch a full investigation into what he calls the “autopen presidency.”
In a 100-page report released Tuesday, the Republican-led committee accuses Biden’s inner circle of concealing the president’s alleged cognitive decline and using an autopen — a mechanical device that replicates a person’s signature — to authorize executive orders, pardons, and other official actions without Biden’s direct awareness.
“Faced with President Biden’s cognitive decline, senior White House aides — under direction from his inner circle — hid the truth about his condition and capacity to serve,” the report claims.
The committee criticizes what it describes as a “chaotic and incomplete documentation process” for presidential pardons, raising doubts about whether Biden personally approved those actions.
According to the report, “In the absence of sufficient contemporaneous documentation proving that President Biden personally made a given executive decision, such actions lack the force of law and should be considered void.”
Comer has called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to review every executive action issued between Biden’s inauguration and his departure from office, focusing particularly on pardons. The report also highlights possible involvement by Hunter Biden in discussions surrounding so-called “preemptive pardons.”
Former Chief of Staff Jeff Zients reportedly testified that Hunter was present during several family discussions about the pardon process. The committee says these discussions included deliberations over potential pardons for multiple Biden family members, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, and even members of Congress linked to the January 6th investigation.
A Biden spokesperson dismissed the report as “baseless and politically motivated.”
Over a three-month investigation, the Oversight Committee interviewed 14 witnesses, including senior White House aides, over 47 hours of testimony. Comer said their accounts reveal “a disturbing pattern of denial and cover-up.”
“Not one witness acknowledged any concern about President Biden’s cognitive health,” the report states, adding that many claimed they “could not recall a single discussion” on the topic within the White House.
Comer’s demand for a DOJ probe marks the latest escalation in what has quickly become one of Washington’s most contentious political controversies.
