Washington D.C. – A political bombshell has just detonated in the nation’s capital. President Donald Trump has dramatically escalated his long-running campaign against his predecessor, Joe Biden, by ordering a sweeping investigation into claims that Biden’s aides orchestrated a vast conspiracy to conceal his alleged cognitive and physical decline during his time in office. At the heart of this explosive probe? The seemingly innocuous “autopen,” a device typically used for routine signatures, now thrust into the spotlight as a potential instrument of deception.
In a scorching statement Wednesday, Trump declared this alleged “conspiracy” to be “one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history.” He specifically tasked White House counsel David Warrington, in conjunction with Attorney General Pam Bondi, to delve into whether Biden’s inner circle “conspired to deceive the public” and unconstitutionally wielded presidential power by masking a “serious cognitive decline.”
The investigation will scrutinize every facet of Biden’s final years, from altered videos and alleged false statements about his capabilities to the very legitimacy of documents bearing his signature. Trump’s core allegation centers on the idea that while Biden’s signature was “deployed across thousands of documents to effect radical policy shifts,” the American public was “purposefully shielded from discovering who wielded the executive power.”
This dramatic move comes amidst a renewed media frenzy surrounding Biden’s mental state, fueled by recent revelations in the book “Original Sin” by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson. The book reportedly details concerns within the White House about Biden’s diminished capacities and whether aides intervened.
Adding fuel to the fire, the investigation could also cast a shadow over Biden’s last-minute pardons, which controversially shielded some of Trump’s political adversaries, including former health official Anthony Fauci and individuals involved in the Jan. 6 investigation, as well as his own son, Hunter Biden. Ed Martin, a Trump appointee at the Justice Department, has already signaled an inquiry into the autopen’s use in these clemency grants.
While presidents, including Trump himself and Barack Obama, have routinely used autopens for administrative purposes, Trump has transformed the device into a symbol of alleged illegitimacy. He famously declared on Truth Social that Biden’s “Autopen” pardons were “VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT,” dubbing it “THE BIGGEST POLITICAL SCANDAL IN AMERICAN HISTORY!!!” (excluding the 2020 election, which he continues to falsely claim was rigged).
For his part, Joe Biden swiftly fired back. In a statement to POLITICO late Wednesday, he asserted, “Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false.” He dismissed the investigation as a “distraction by Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans” designed to push “disastrous legislation” that would cut essential programs.
The House Oversight Committee, under Republican Chair James Comer, has already opened its own parallel investigation, demanding interviews with former Biden aides like Ronald Klain and Michael Donilon, and subpoenaing Biden’s former physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor. Comer warns that if it’s proven Biden wasn’t aware of autopen-signed executive orders, those orders could be “thrown out in court.”
As the Trump administration’s probe gears up, questions loom large: Will this investigation unearth concrete evidence of a “conspiracy,” or will it be seen as another highly-charged political maneuver aimed at discrediting a past administration? The battle lines are drawn, and the implications for the validity of presidential actions – and the public’s trust – could be profound.