President Trump on Wednesday ordered an investigation into actions taken by former President Biden while in office, citing questions about Biden‘s cognitive state toward the end of his White House term.
Trump directed the counsel to the president, in consultation with Attorney General Pam Bondi, to probe “whether certain individuals conspired to deceive the public about Biden’s mental state and unconstitutionally exercise the authorities and responsibilities of the President.”
The investigation will focus specifically on actions Biden signed using the “autopen,” which has become a fixation of those on the right as they levy accusations about Biden’s ability to carry out his duties.
Trump’s order cites Biden’s appointment of more than 200 judges to the federal bench, the issuance of thousands of acts of clemency and the issuance of more than 1,000 presidential documents during his term.
Biden sharply pushed back on the suggestion that he was not the one making decisions while in office.
“Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false,” he said in a statement.
“This is nothing more than a distraction by Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans who are working to push disastrous legislation that would cut essential programs like Medicaid and raise costs on American families, all to pay for tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations.”
Biden allies have noted that the use of an autopen for signing official documents is standard practice and has been upheld by the courts. And the Constitution places few limits on the presidential use of clemency powers.
New books, including “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” have reignited debate about Biden’s mental acuity while in office and whether he experienced cognitive decline.
Since Trump took office, the GOP has taken a number of steps focusing on Biden.
The White House confirmed Tuesday that pardon attorney Ed Martin would be reviewing Biden’s pardons for his family members, as well as some other clemencies granted during his final days in office.
House Republicans have reached out to former Biden aides as part of a probe into his mental acuity.
And the Justice Department last month released the full tapes of Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur, one in which the attorney said Biden appeared to have memory lapses. Biden released the full transcript of the conversation while president, but not the audio.
Updated at 10:27 p.m. EDT
