House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Tuesday that former President Joe Biden's extensive use of the autopen to sign executive orders and pardons was "insane," and that every such action "should be voided."
Speaking at the Capitol after the release of a new House Oversight and Government Reform Committee report, Johnson said the findings reveal "an unprecedented situation in American politics and government."
The 100-page report, "The Biden Autopen Presidency: Decline, Delusion, and Deception in the White House," accuses Biden's aides of concealing his mental decline and executing presidential actions without his written authorization.
"The Oversight chairman, James Comer, released a blockbuster report now on the Biden autopen presidency," Johnson said. "This report includes 47 hours' worth of testimony revealing that every executive action signed by the autopen without written authorization from President Biden should be voided."
Johnson, a former constitutional law litigator, said there is "no legal precedent" for the situation.
"Nothing this incredible and insane has happened before," he said. "No previous president had the audacity to have people signing things on their behalf when they didn't even know what was in it."
Johnson accused Biden's staff of running the White House while the president "was checked out of his job for quite some time."
The speaker claimed that aides "literally pointed him where to stand and wave" and that "he didn't know what he was signing."
Among the executive actions Johnson singled out were Biden's pardons and his pause on liquefied natural gas exports.
"He pardoned categories of violent criminals and turned them loose on the streets, and he didn't even know who they were," Johnson said. "Those pardons are invalid on their face."
Johnson also said Biden seemed unaware of the LNG pause's global implications when the two met in the Oval Office.
"He looked at me as if it hadn't happened, and it occurred to me he wasn't lying, he honestly didn't know," Johnson said. "It made our European allies dependent on Vladimir Putin for energy and fueled his war machine in Ukraine."
The Oversight report, released Tuesday, alleges that Biden's top advisers and personal physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, concealed the president's cognitive decline and facilitated unauthorized executive actions using the autopen.
Comer called the report "one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history," and urged the Justice Department to investigate Biden aides who invoked their Fifth Amendment rights.
Comer also requested that the D.C. Board of Medicine should review O'Connor's actions for possible misconduct, citing testimony that political operatives interfered with Biden's medical care to protect his reelection prospects.
The report amplifies Republican claims that Biden's aides exercised power without his knowledge.
Democrats dismissed the probe as politically motivated and lacking evidence that the autopen was misused or that Biden was unaware of his administration's actions.
Johnson said the matter will ultimately be decided in court.
"You can't allow a president to check out and have unelected, unaccountable people making massive decisions for the country," he said. "These are unprecedented cases, but man, is it dangerous stuff."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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