GOP-led Oversight Committee calls Biden pardons ‘void’ over autopen use and ‘cognitive decline’

WASHINGTON, DC: In a sweeping final report released on Tuesday, October 28, the Republican-led House Oversight Committee alleged that former President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen to sign pardons and commutations rendered those actions “void,” citing what it called his “cognitive decline.”

The committee sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi urging her to “take appropriate action” and consider prosecutions of senior Biden aides.

“The committee determines that action by the Department of Justice is warranted to address the legal consequences of that determination,” it said in the letter titled, 'The Biden Autopen Presidency: Decline, Delusion, and Deception in the White House'.

GOP seeks DOJ and medical board action

The 93-page report claims to have uncovered "a cover-up of the president’s cognitive decline."

It also states that there's “no record demonstrating President Biden himself made all of the executive decisions that were attributed to him.”

Biden has dismissed such claims as lies, insisting that he made every decision of his presidency.

The committee has asked Bondi to investigate three former Biden aides — Dr Kevin O’Connor, Anthony Bernal, and Annie Tomasini, who invoked the Fifth Amendment in testimony.

It also requested that Washington, DC’s medical board examine whether O’Connor, Biden’s longtime physician, violated professional standards by “issuing misleading medical reports.”

Committee Chair Rep James Comer said that aides "colluded to mislead the public" and claimed that they took "extraordinary measures" to "sustain the appearance of presidential authority."

He declared that “executive actions performed by Biden White House staff and signed by autopen are null and void.”

Legal experts, however, note that there is no precedent for revoking a presidential pardon.

The Justice Department under George W Bush had previously upheld the legality of using the autopen, provided the president authorized its use.

Democrats call it a sham investigation

Democrats on the panel dismissed the findings. Rep Robert Garcia, the ranking member, said every witness confirmed that Biden “fully executed his duties as President.”

He called on House Republicans to “stop focusing on political retribution and instead work to end the government shutdown.”

A Biden spokesperson said the GOP report “confirmed what has been clear from the start: President Biden made the decisions of his presidency.”

The Department of Justice has declined to comment.

Biden issued more than 4200 pardons during his presidency 

The report also scrutinized Biden’s decision to allegedly issue over 4,200 pardons and commutations, more than any other president, including the controversial clemency for Trump critics, his son, and members of his administration.

It claimed that the decision-making process resembled a “game of telephone,” with aides relaying instructions through multiple layers before the autopen was activated.

Former officials, including Ron Klain and Neera Tanden, reportedly acknowledged gaps in the paper trail for executive decisions. But none testified that anyone other than Biden directed the pardons.

Biden and Trump at odds over autopen issue

The use of the autopen had already drawn attention from President Donald Trump, who in June publicly called on Bondi and the White House Counsel to investigate “who ran the United States while President Biden was in office.”

Biden's camp, in a statement, said that he personally made all decisions.

“Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation and proclamations,” they stated.

The Oversight Committee’s findings are expected to face steep legal and constitutional hurdles, according to experts.

Even Republicans reportedly acknowledge that undoing a past president’s pardons would test the limits of executive power.