GOP Report Alleges Autopen Use, Seeks Pardons Review

House Oversight Committee Republicans, led by Chair James Comer, released a report accusing President Joe Biden of cognitive decline and alleging White House aides extensively used an autopen to sign executive orders and clemency documents without contemporaneous proof of his personal approval. The report draws on interviews with more than a dozen current and former White House officials, cites inconsistent testimony and weak chain-of-custody documentation, and says some witnesses invoked the Fifth Amendment. Committee Republicans urged the Justice Department to open administrative and criminal reviews and asked the DOJ and Attorney General Pam Bondi to review — and potentially declare void — Biden-era pardons and other executive actions; the DOJ pardon attorney, Ed Martin, has flagged concerns the report says warrant further examination. Republicans and allies including Rep. Jim Jordan amplified the findings, while Democrats and Biden denounced the probe as partisan and said the majority produced no credible evidence that aides acted without the president's authorization. Multiple news outlets and analysts say the report largely revisits already public information and lacks conclusive evidence of a conspiracy, though it raises legal and political questions about late-term pardons, including ones involving Hunter Biden.