GOP Accuses Biden White House of Autopen Cover-Up, Suggests Pardons Could Be Legally Void
The House Oversight Committee has dropped a political bombshell. In a scathing 100-page report released Tuesday, Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and House Republicans allege that President Joe Biden’s top aides concealed his cognitive decline, improperly relied on an autopen to sign official documents, and may have invalidated some of the most consequential actions of his presidency — including pardons.
“They Propped Up a Man Unfit to Lead”
“Faced with the cognitive decline of President Joe Biden, White House aides — at the direction of the inner circle — hid the truth,” the report reads. Comer alleges that for much of Biden’s final year in office, key executive decisions were signed without the president’s direct involvement or full awareness.
That includes not only executive orders and proclamations, but presidential pardons — some of which the committee claims may be constitutionally invalid if Biden lacked the mental clarity to issue them.
“The American people deserve to know who was actually calling the shots in the Biden White House,” Comer said. “It wasn’t Joe Biden.”
Autopen Use Under Fire
The committee claims that Biden’s staff relied on an autopen — a machine that replicates a person’s signature — to finalize sensitive and legally binding documents, without verifying Biden’s awareness or authorization of the content. Republicans argue this calls into question whether many of his executive actions carry any legal weight at all.
The use of an autopen isn’t new — presidents have used it sparingly for decades — but Comer’s report insists it was used in an unprecedented and possibly unconstitutional manner by Biden’s staff to mask his incapacity.
The GOP is now urging the Department of Justice to investigate the legality of every executive order and clemency action signed between January 20, 2021, and January 19, 2025.
Controversial Pardons Face Scrutiny
The committee report highlights Biden’s last-minute pardon spree — including clemency for family members (Hunter Biden, James Biden, and two of Biden’s sisters), political allies like Dr. Anthony Fauci and Gen. Mark Milley, and even controversial figures from the January 6 Committee, including Adam Schiff, Jamie Raskin, and Bennie Thompson.
According to sworn testimony from former White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, Hunter Biden was directly involved in clemency discussions — raising serious questions of conflict of interest.
“Zients testified that President Biden included his son, Hunter Biden, in the decision-making process,” the report states, fueling Republican outrage over what they see as self-serving, possibly criminal behavior inside the Biden White House.
Dr. Kevin O’Connor Faces Medical Probe
The report also targets Biden’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, who allegedly invoked the Fifth Amendment during questioning. Comer accused him of issuing “false or misleading” medical statements under political pressure and called on the D.C. Board of Medicine to investigate him for ethical violations.
According to the report, O’Connor was part of a broader “cover-up” operation to downplay or conceal signs of Biden’s cognitive and physical deterioration — all to maintain a façade of presidential control.
Legal and Constitutional Implications
The GOP report represents a sharp escalation in its post-presidency investigations of Biden and raises stunning constitutional questions. If a sitting president’s mental capacity is so compromised that he cannot knowingly issue executive orders or pardons — and if those orders were rubber-stamped by staff or machines — are they legally valid?
Comer suggests they are not. “Any actions taken without Biden’s clear personal authorization do not carry the force of law and should be considered void,” the report declares.
What Comes Next
The Oversight Committee is expected to refer the matter to the DOJ for formal investigation and may move to challenge specific Biden-era actions in court — including the pardons.
Should the DOJ or federal courts agree with Comer’s findings, it could set off a legal firestorm with massive implications: reversals of presidential pardons, nullified executive orders, and potential charges against former Biden staffers who allegedly orchestrated the cover-up.
As Comer put it plainly: “They lied to the American people. This wasn’t a presidency — it was a coordinated deception run from the shadows.”