Here's Where the Biden Autopen Controversy Stands Now

Townhall Media

It may be years before the entire extent of the unmitigated mess that the Biden administration was is fully known. Even Democrats now are admitting that the former president was impaired through much, if not all, of his presidency. But there are serious matters that Congress is looking into, not least of which is the use of the now-famous autopen - and who was making the real decisions in the White House.

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The House Oversight Committee heard testimony this week from a key Biden official as part of its investigation into the former president’s health decline and issued a subpoena to former first lady Jill Biden’s top aide after he refused to appear voluntarily.

Biden left office in January, but questions about his mental acuity and decline while in office continue to mount after the release of audio of his interview with former special counsel Robert Hur and his cancer diagnosis, drawing attention to a number of actions taken in his final days in office and beyond.

Questions mount, to be sure, but answers are not yet forthcoming. We managed to escape some really horrible consequences that could well have resulted from other nations, like, say, Iran, suddenly realizing that the befuddled Joe Biden would probably be incapable of responding in any meaningful way to any aggressive action. But the autopen issue in particular raises a couple of very serious questions: Who was making decisions in the White House, and what might the legal status of documents signed with that machine, like pardons, be if it can be established that then-President Biden wasn't in that loop?

Here's where the autopen mess sits at the moment:

Some Biden aides agreed to voluntarily testify for transcribed interviews, including the director of Biden's former Domestic Policy Council, Neera Tanden; Biden's assistant and senior advisor to the first lady, Anthony Bernal; former special assistant to Biden and Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations, Ashley Williams; and Annie Tomasini, Biden's deputy chief of staff.

Tanden appeared before the House Oversight Committee Tuesday. She told lawmakers she had "minimal interaction with Biden despite wielding tremendous authority," Comer said. 

"She explained that to obtain approval for autopen signatures, she would send decision memos to members of the president's inner circle and had no visibility of what occurred between sending the memo and receiving it back with approval," Comer explained. "Her testimony raises serious questions about who was really calling the shots in the Biden White House amid the president's obvious decline." 

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So, these people were mindlessly running these things through the autopen with no real idea who was doing the approving. Thus, the subpoenas. Thus, the investigations. We're entitled to some answers.


See Also: Top White House Aide Refusing to Testify in Biden Cover-Up

Former Jill Biden Senior Advisor Subpoenaed by House Oversight Committee


So what happens if these investigations confirm what many suspect - that Joe Biden was indeed non compos mentis, that persons unknown, like Frau Doktor Professor Jill Biden or ne'er-do-well son Hunter, were behind decisions approved by autopen? It seems logical that any such orders or actions not specifically approved by POTUS - by Joe Biden, in that role - would be null and void. That could be earth-shaking. Many, if not all, of the Biden administration's 2025 pardons, including those for the J6 Committee, General Mark Milley, a rash of Biden family members, and Anthony Fauci, could be set aside. 

Now, if you ask me what will actually happen, what is likely to happen, I'm inclined to say "nothing." I don't say that's what should happen, but based on history, my best guess is that this is what will happen. There will be witnesses grilled, and there will be a lot of statements made to the press, and there may even be some sternly-worded letters. But in the end, I guess that this will all end, not with a bang, but with a whimper.

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I'd love to be wrong.

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