House GOP Alleges Autopen Signed 149 Pardons

Republican members of the House Oversight Committee released a 90–100-page report alleging President Biden extensively used an autopen to sign roughly 149 executive actions and pardons, including clemencies for family members, Hunter Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley and some Jan. 6 figures. The committee alleges aides concealed Biden’s cognitive decline and that many actions lack contemporaneous documentation showing Biden personally authorized them. The panel asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to open a Justice Department probe into all executive actions signed by autopen and to examine whether key aides committed criminal activity, and House Speaker Mike Johnson urged that autopen-signed actions be voided. The report is based largely on depositions and public records but does not present concrete evidence that aides conspired to enact policies without Biden’s knowledge; Democrats and Biden spokespeople denounced the inquiry as politically motivated. Legal scholars note pardons are ordinarily irrevocable and autopens have long been used, making any effort to retroactively invalidate executive acts legally uncertain and likely to prompt protracted legal and constitutional battles that may be resolved by the Justice Department.