Trump orders investigation into Biden’s health when president, use of autopen

US President Donald Trump directed his White House counsel on Wednesday to investigate whether former president Joe Biden’s aides covered up alleged mental decline and unlawfully used an autopen on Biden’s behalf to sign policy documents.

Republican Trump has long asserted that Biden, a Democrat who defeated him in the 2020 presidential election, was mentally incompetent and has suggested the use of a mechanical pen to sign memos, executive orders and grants of clemency during Biden’s four-year-term may have been improper, potentially rendering them invalid.

In a statement late on Wednesday, Biden dismissed those suggestions.

“Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false,” he said in a statement.

Biden’s team said the use of an autopen was a well-established legal practice following a presidential decision.