❓WHAT HAPPENED: The Department of Justice (DOJ) under Attorney General Pam Bondi has decided not to pursue criminal charges against President Joe Biden or his aides regarding their lax use of an autopen to sign off on presidential actions.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: President Donald J. Trump, former President Joe Biden, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s DOJ team.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The investigation, which began last year, was reportedly dropped this week.
💬KEY QUOTE: “This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history.” – Donald J. Trump
🎯IMPACT: The DOJ’s failure to act against Biden or his aides marks another setback for Bondi, who has already failed to act hold the likes of former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James to account.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) under Attorney General Pam Bondi will not pursue criminal charges against former President Joe Biden or his aides for their lax use of an autopen to approve presidential actions. President Donald J. Trump has repeatedly criticized the Biden government over its use of an autopen, a mechanical device that reproduces a person’s signature, alleging it was used to sign official documents without Biden’s full awareness, particularly in the context of presidential pardons.
“This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history,” President Trump said in a memo last year. However, Attorney General Pam Bondi‘s prosecutors now say they have found no evidence that any law was broken following a review that examined whether the autopen had been improperly used.
The investigation was overseen by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., led by Jeanine Pirro, a former Fox News host who now serves as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Prosecutors reportedly expressed doubts that any indictment would be viable, particularly given Supreme Court precedent granting broad immunity to presidents for actions taken while in office.
Republican investigators in Congress previously released reports questioning the legitimacy of some documents signed by autopen during Biden’s presidency, arguing they were issued without clear proof of direct presidential authorization.
Previous administrations have relied on autopens, and a 2005 Justice Department opinion concluded that a president does not need to physically sign a document for it to carry legal force, as long as the decision itself was approved by the President.
Join Pulse+ to comment below, and receive exclusive e-mail analyses.