Biden's 'autopen signature' appears on most official docs, raising concerns over who controlled the WH: report
The majority of official documents signed by President Joe Biden allegedly used the same autopen signature, reinvigorating concerns over the former president’s mental acuity and if he "actually ordered the signature of relevant legal documents," a report published by an arm of the Heritage Foundation found.
"WHOEVER CONTROLLED THE AUTOPEN CONTROLLED THE PRESIDENCY," the Oversight Project, which is an initiative within the conservative Heritage Foundation that investigates the government to bolster transparency, posted to X on Thursday.
"We gathered every document we could find with Biden's signature over the course of his presidency. All used the same autopen signature except for the announcement that the former President was dropping out of the race last year. Here is the autopen signature," the group claimed on X, accompanied by photo examples.
Autopen signatures are ones that are automatically produced by a machine, as opposed to an authentic, handwritten signature
The Oversight Project posted three examples showing Biden’s signature, including two executive orders and the president’s announcement he was bowing out of the 2024 presidential race. The signature on the two executive orders, one of which was signed in 2022 and the other in 2024, showed the same signature that included what appeared to be a line, followed by "R. Biden Jr."
Biden’s signature on the document announcing his departure from the 2024 race varied from the other two posted by the Oversight Project, showing a signature that wasn’t as clear as the one on the executive orders.
Fox News Digital, at random, examined more than 20 Biden-era executive orders documented on the Federal Register’s office between 2021 and 2024 and found each had the same signature.
Fox News Digital also examined the signatures on President Donald Trump’s executive orders, which are often signed in public or in front of the media, during his first administration and second administration and found the signatures were also the same
Biden and his administration, however, came under fierce concern and scrutiny over his mental acuity last year.
The year 2024 kicked off with Biden in the driver’s seat of the Democratic Party as he keyed up a re-election effort in what was shaping up to be a rematch against Trump. In February of that year, however, Biden’s 81 years of age and mental acuity fell under public scrutiny after years of conservatives questioning the commander in chief’s mental fitness.
Special counsel Robert Hur, who was investigating Biden’s alleged mishandling of classified documents as vice president, announced he would not recommend criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials after his vice presidency, calling Biden "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."
The report renewed scrutiny over Biden’s mental fitness, which rose to a fever pitch in June 2024 after the president’s first and only presidential debate against Trump.
Biden faced backlash for a handful of gaffes and miscues in the days leading up to his ill-fated debate against Trump, including former President Barack Obama taking Biden’s wrist and appearing to lead him off a stage during a swank fundraiser, and also abroad when Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni guided Biden back to a group of world leaders when he appeared to wander off to give a thumbs-up to a parachutist during the G-7 summit.
When the big debate day arrived, Biden missed his marks repeatedly, tripping over his responses and appearing to lose his train of thought as he squared off against Trump. The disastrous debate performance led to an outpouring from both conservatives and traditional Democrat allies calling on the president to bow out of the race in favor of a younger generation.
Biden dropped out of the race in July, with the signature on that official document showing it was noticeably different from the signature on his EOs.
Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey sent a letter to the Department of Justice on Wednesday of last week demanding an investigation be opened into whether Biden’s "cognitive decline allowed unelected staff to push through radical policy without his knowing approval."
"There are profound reasons to suspect that Biden's staff and political allies exploited his mental decline to issue purported presidential orders without his knowing approval," the letter read.
"Speaker Johnson, for example, reported that staff and elected officials – including former Vice President Kamala Harris and former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer – tried to prevent Johnson from meeting with Biden," it continued.
"Though presidents always have gatekeepers, in Biden's case, the walls around him were higher and the controls greater, according to Democratic lawmakers, donors and aides who worked for Biden and other administrations. Staff limited Biden's ability to speak with others and limited the sources of information he consumed."
The Oversight Project shared Bailey’s letter in its thread investigating Biden’s signature on official documents, in addition to an interview with Speaker Johnson, R-La., when he recounted that Biden didn’t remember signing an order freezing new liquid natural gas exports in 2024.
"I didn’t do that," the president said, Johnson recounted during an interview with the Free Press’ Bari Weiss in January.
"Sir, you paused it, I know. I have the export terminals in my state. I talked to those people in my state, I’ve talked to those people this morning, this is doing massive damage to our economy, national security," Johnson said he told the president at the time.
"I walked out of that meeting with fear and loathing because I thought, ‘We are in serious trouble – who is running the country?’" Johnson said of the 2024 meeting.
"Like, I don’t know who put the paper in front of him, but he didn’t know," he added.
The Oversight Project continued in its findings that investigators should determine "who controlled the autopen" during the Biden administration.
"For investigators to determine whether then-President Biden actually ordered the signature of relevant legal documents, or if he even had the mental capacity to, they must first determine who controlled the autopen and what checks there were in place.
Given President Biden's decision to revoke Executive Privilege for individuals advising Trump during his first Presidency, this is a knowable fact that can be determined with the correct legal process?" the Oversight Project posted to X.
Concerns over Biden’s mental acuity when he was in office, combined with the Oversight Project’s findings, have sparked outrage among conservative social media users as they question if Biden personally signed the executive orders.
