President Donald Trump has ordered an investigation into former President Joe Biden’s actions as president via a memorandum asking “who ran the United States while President Biden was in office.”
The memo alleges that Biden and his aides hid his “serious cognitive decline” during the latter part of his presidency.
The Trump administration announced the investigation on Wednesday evening. The investigation will seek to determine if “certain individuals conspired to deceive the public about Biden’s mental state and unconstitutionally exercise the authorities and responsibilities of the President.”
By calling into question who wielded executive power during Biden’s presidency, the Trump administration appears to be position to undermine the legitimacy of his executive actions, including pardons, executive orders, and legislation signed into law.
The memo also mandates an investigation into all of Biden’s executive actions during his “final years in office, examining policy documents signed with an autopen, who authorized its use, and the validity of the resulting Presidential policy decisions.”
“In recent months, it has become increasingly apparent that former President Biden’s aides abused the power of Presidential signature through the use of an autopen to conceal Biden’s cognitive decline and assert Article II authority,” the Trump memorandum says. “This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history.”
The memorandum accuses Biden’s aides of restricting “his news conferences and media appearances, scripting his conversations with lawmakers, government officials, and donors,” and calling into question the actions taken during his time in office.
The announcement comes on the heels of a Reuters report that Ed Martin, the Justice Department’s pardon attorney, had told staff on June 2 that he had been directed to investigate clemency and pardons that had been granted during the Biden administration, particularly during the final days of his administration.
A recurring focus of the memorandum appears to be Biden’s use of an autopen, a device that mechanically replicates a signature.
Use of autopens is not uncommon for presidents nor is it illegal. Previous presidents, including Trump, have used the devices.
During a press briefing on June 3, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified that the Trump administration was not concerned about the use of the autopen, but rather if people other than Biden were using it to sign pardons, bills, or executive orders.
“It’s whether or not the president of the United States knew it was being used, and if not, who was using it in his name, which is clearly, illegal behavior,” she said.
