Former President Joe Biden's liberal use of an autopen for signing documents may have a bigger impact on his decisions and his presidency than initially suspected.
President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social Friday that he was terminating all orders and documents from the previous administration that were signed by an autopen rather than by President Biden personally.
"I am hereby cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden, because the people who operated the Autopen did so illegally," he said, and estimated that up to 92% were not signed by hand.
Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican and chairman of the House Oversight Committee, commended Trump’s decision and hinted at just how damaging Biden's use of the autopen had become.
"I applaud President Trump for deeming President Biden's autopen actions NULL AND VOID," he began.
"The House Oversight Committee recently exposed how the Biden Autopen Presidency is one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history. As Americans witnessed President Biden’s decline with their own eyes, Biden’s inner circle sought to deceive the public, conceal his condition, and take unauthorized executive actions using the autopen — actions that are now invalid.
"The House Oversight Committee delivered crucial transparency, and now President Trump and his administration are delivering accountability."
The House Oversight Committee reported that aides to President Biden had testified as to what extent he was propped up while making personal appearances.
"Makeup, teleprompters for small fundraisers, limiting events, stage-managing appearances, reducing his workload, avoiding interviews, even seeking Hollywood's help for the State of the Union," according to their testimony.
"They controlled everything, including who could see him. This wasn't a presidency. It was a production," the committee concluded
What was even worse, "His own aides didn't know who was operating the autopen."
Therefore, "President Trump just declared all of those actions NULL and VOID."
In recent weeks Trump discussed reversing Biden's presidential pardons — especially preemptive pardons that were autopen-signed, and indicated that the only pardon signed by hand was the one pardoning his son Hunter.
Trump didn't mention, however, appointments Biden made to federal offices — specifically, lifetime judicial appointments.
Joe Biden made a total of 235 lifetime (Article III) federal judicial appointments during his tenure in office, which were later confirmed by the Senate. They include:
—One U.S. Supreme Court justice (Ketanji Brown Jackson)
—45 U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges
—187 U.S. District Court judges
—Two U.S. Court of International Trade judges
Biden's 235 lifetime judicial appointments surpassed President Trump's first-term total of 234. However, three of Trump's were Supreme Court appointments.
For the most part, Biden's appointments weren't based so much on merit as they were diversity. His appointment of Ketanji Brown Jackson, for example, was heralded for being the first Black female justice on the Supreme Court.
Independent journalist and Newsmax contributor Nick Sorter first made the connection between the autopen and judicial appointments, and reasoned that "If a staffer used the autopen to 'sign' Biden's name without his authorization on the commission for Article III judges, the argument can (and should) be made that their rulings are not enforceable."
That reasoning can be taken further. Even if Biden had approved the appointment but had it signed by autopen, it was arguably still defective.
Sorter noted that Title 5 US Code §2902 outlines the process for recording the commission of officers appointed by the president. It provides that "The departmental seal may not be affixed to the commission before the commission has been signed by the President.” [emphasis added]
It doesn't permit the president to appoint another person or another means to affix his signature to the commission.
Assuming Trump's 92% autopen signature rate holds for judicial appointments, that would mean that 216 were defective as being signed by autopen, leaving only 19 valid lifetime judicial appointments.
For nearly four years White House staff, with the aid of legacy media, told Americans that they should reject what they were witnessing with their own eyes and ears — that the 46th president's mental decline rendered him unfit for public office.
And because of it, much of Trump's second term is now dedicated to "Clean up on aisle 46!"
But within that "cleanup" lies the possibility of reshaping the federal judiciary.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and is a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He's also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and a Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.
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