The White House investigation comes in addition to similar inquiries made in the Department of Justice and House Committee.
Biden will be speaking publicly for the first time since cancer diagnosis
Former President Joe Biden gave his first public speech at an anniversary event in Delaware since the cancer diagnosis was announced.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump ordered an investigation into former President Joe Biden’s alleged “cognitive decline” and who determined that his signature would be applied to official documents via an autopen.
Trump’s instructions to White House lawyer David Warrington have consulted with Attorney General Pam Bondi to intensify the pressure behind Trump’s longstanding criticism of Biden’s mental capabilities. The investigation arises amid similar inquiries in the Department of Justice and the House Committee.
“This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history,” Trump wrote on his orders. “While the American people were intentionally protected from discovering who used enforcement, Biden’s signatures were deployed in thousands of documents, leading to radical policy changes.”
In a statement in response to Trump’s orders, Biden said during his presidency that he “decided on pardons, executive orders, legislation and declarations.”
“The suggestion that I didn’t do that is ridiculous and false,” Biden added. “This is nothing more than a distraction from Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans who work to cut down important programs like Medicaid and push for disastrous laws to raise the costs of American families.
Biden responded in a recent series of public appearances that he is directing his department. He was also critical of Trump, claiming that his successor had hatch with the Social Security Agency.
“They’re wrong,” Biden said of the alleged cognitive decline in ABC’s “view.”
Trump has directed the investigation to cover whether Biden’s aides have been coordinated to protect the public from information about Biden’s mental and physical health. The new book, Original Sin, describes an aide who protects Biden from his cabinet secretary and limits his access. Biden recently revealed his diagnosis of prostate cancer.
Trump also directed an investigation into how Biden took enforcement action in his final year in office and decided who ordered the autopen to grant tolerance or other presidential actions.
The President has been using an autopen for decades under the DOJ memo
Using automated pens, the president has been mimicking document signing for decades when Congress completes emergency laws, often away from his office. Justice Department memos for 2002 and 2005 confirmed that the president could instruct his aides to use an autopen to sign legislation effective under the Constitution.
“This memorandum confirms and elaborates on previous advice that the president may sign the bill this way,” the 2005 memo said.
Biden forgives his younger brother James Biden and other relatives for unspecified crimes during the final day of his inauguration. Biden had previously forgiven his son, Hunter Biden after a gun and tax conviction.
At the Justice Department, lawyer Ed Martin said it would investigate Biden’s pardon and use of autopen.
Congressional Republicans have long argued that the president profited from his son and brother’s overseas business deals. Rep. James Comer, R-Kentucky, chair of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, asked a former Biden aide to sit down for an interview about his mental fitness.
Trump points to special advisors’ findings about Biden’s condition
Trump’s orders highlight certain painful points, including different treatments for him and Biden.
Jack Smith, a special advisor to the Department of Justice, has accused Trump of illegally retaining more than 100 classified documents on Mar-a-Lago, a Florida property. The charges were removed when Trump was elected for a second term based on a policy against indicting a sitting president.
Special Advisor Robert Hurr opposed requesting Biden for confidential documents found at his Delaware home and at his Washington, D.C. office during the search that Biden was invited to. Har concluded that the ju-described Biden “has a poor memory of being a sympathetic and well-meaning older man.”
“For years, President Biden has suffered from severe cognitive decline,” Trump wrote. “The Justice Department, for example, concluded that despite clear evidence that Biden had broken the law, he should not endure trial due to his incompetent mental state.”
Donation: Joey Garrison, USA Today
