WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump said Friday
It is unclear whether the president has the legal authority to nullify Biden’s actions.
“Any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen, which was approximately 92% of them, is hereby terminated, and of no further force or effect,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “The Autopen is not allowed to be used if approval is not specifically given by the President of the United States.”
Citing contested claims about Biden’s mental state, Trump has alleged for months, without evidence, that Biden administration officials might have forged their boss’s signature by using the autopen and taken broad actions — including issuing pardons and executive orders — he wasn’t aware of.
“The Radical Left Lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the Presidency away from him,” Trump wrote Friday. “I am hereby cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden, because the people who operated the Autopen did so illegally. Joe Biden was not involved in the Autopen process and, if he says he was, he will be brought up on charges of perjury. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Biden has strenuously denied he was unaware of his administration’s actions, calling such claims “ridiculous and false.”
An autopen is a mechanical device that is used to replicate a person’s authentic signature. A pen or other writing implement is held by an arm of the machine, which reproduces a signature after a writing sample has been fed to it. Presidents, including Trump, have used them for decades.
Trump has trolled Biden on multiple occasions over the issue. In September, Trump added a Presidential Walk of Fame to the exterior of the White House, featuring portraits of each of the previous commanders-in-chief. But instead of Biden’s headshot, he hung a photo of an autopen signing the former president’s name.
At the president’s traditional turkey pardon on Tuesday, Trump opened his remarks by declaring last year’s turkey pardons by Biden were “totally invalid” due to the use of an autopen.
Last month, Republicans issued a report on Biden’s use of the autopen. The report did not include any concrete evidence that aides conspired to enact policies without Biden’s knowledge or that the president was unaware of laws, pardons or executive orders signed in his name. But Republicans said their findings cast doubt on all of the Democrat’s actions in office. They sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi urging a full investigation. Trump ordered a similar inquiry earlier this year.
he is declaring any document signed by former President Joe Biden using an autopen invalid.
