The Trump administration is limiting the use of the autopen in the Oval Office, as another report claimed abuse of the instrument during the Biden administration.
A former Biden aide said that a key staffer was suspected of unilaterally making decisions to sign documents as former President Joe Biden’s cognitive abilities decreased. The aide said others in the administration questioned the staffer’s use of the autopen appropriately but would not speak out because of the culture in the White House was not to ask questions.
‘If they’re not carrying out the president’s will, it’s a huge issue — it’s criminal.’
The controversy over the autopen has received increased scrutiny after the Oversight Project of the Heritage Foundation posted evidence of the overuse of the instrument under Biden. The group posted a video showing suspected autopen signatures on six pardons from Biden’s last day in office, as well as one autopen use while he was on vacation.
The aide spoke to the New York Post, but the aide’s identity was not published because colleagues from the administration contradicted the claim.
“I feared no one as much as I feared that [staffer]. To me, [the staffer] basically was the president,” the person said to the Post. “No one ever questioned [the staffer]. Period.”
The aide went on to say that there was no clarity on who was actually making the decisions on when the autopen was to be used.
Republicans had pummeled the former president with criticism of his lessening cognitive faculties, but the former administration and the mainstream media worked together to crush those suspicions. That facade imploded after Biden demonstrated his decline at his presidential debate against Trump last June.
The Post said others from the administration denied the claims from the aide, and one called the accusation “bulls**t.”
Attorney Mike Davis, an outside Trump adviser, explained the proper and improper use of the autopen in the Oval Office.
“If they’re carrying out the president’s will, it doesn’t seem like an issue. If they’re not carrying out the president’s will, it’s a huge issue — it’s criminal,” he said. “If an authorized autopen operator is using the autopen on a particular document against the president’s will, it’s clearly not valid.”
The Trump administration has issued far more restrictive rules for autopen use.
“We will occasionally use the autopen when a single document requires multiple presidential signatures, or when multiple copies of a single document require signing, but only after the President has personally signed off and only at his direction,” wrote Trump staff secretary William Scharf.
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Biden aide autopen, Biden autopen abuse, Autopen scandal, Trump autopen, Politics
