The Department of Justice (DOJ) dropped its probe into claims made by President Trump that former President Biden and his aides illegally used an autopen to sign officials documents after failing to build a criminal case, multiple outlets reported.
U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro’s office led the inquiry but it was shelved in recent months, The New York Times reported, citing three people briefed on the probe.
The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.
Trump ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House counsel to investigate “the circumstances surrounding Biden’s purported execution of the numerous executive actions during his final years in office, examining policy documents signed with an autopen, who authorized its use, and the validity of the resulting Presidential policy decisions.”
The order also requested Bondi to investigate “whether certain individuals conspired to deceive the public about Biden’s mental state and unconstitutionally exercise the authorities and responsibilities of the President.”
It cited several of Biden’s executive orders, including pardons and judicial appointments. Trump argued that Biden’s pardons should be made void due to his claims.
“And you know what, they ought to find out who was using that autopen,” Trump said last year. “Because whoever that person was, he or she was like the President of the United States … I think a President should sign it, not use an autopen. And we’re going to find out whether or not he knew what the hell he was doing.”
Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in October called on the DOJ to investigate Biden’s alleged use of an autopen. The released a 100-page report following their own investigation, though it failed to pinpoint a specific incident where an autopen was used without Biden’s sign-off. It claimed that Biden verbally authorized the autopen be used.
Biden signed several pardons and clemencies during his time in office, including for his son Hunter Biden and for indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, who supporters said was wrongfully imprisoned for almost 50 years.
He also pardoned members of the members of Congress who served on the Jan. 6 committee, but most of the last-minute clemencies were given to people the White House described as nonviolent drug offenders.
Biden dismissed Trump and House Republicans’ claims. He told The New York Times in July that his accusers were “liars. They know it.” He said that the autopen was used to sign warrants because there “were a lot of them.”
“They’ve lied so consistently about almost everything they’re doing,” the former president told the outlet. “The best thing they can do is try to change the focus and focus on something else. And this is a — I think that’s what this is about.”
