The autopen — a machine first patented centuries ago — is having a moment in the political spotlight, following allegations made by President Trump that former President Biden used one to sign pardons.
That’s prompting questions about what autopens do, how they work and why the device is now stirring up controversy. The devices use pens or other writing instruments to place a person’s signature on documents, books or other papers, such as in the case of a college president, for example, who would otherwise be required to sign hundreds or thousands of diplomas for graduating students by hand.
Mr. Trump raised the issue in March when he claimed Mr. Biden’s alleged use of an autopen to sign preemptive pardons to members of the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol rendered them “void” and “vacant.”
Mr. Trump raised the issue again on Wednesday, when he posted on Truth Social, “With the exception of the RIGGED PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2020, THE AUTOPEN IS THE BIGGEST POLITICAL SCANDAL IN AMERICAN HISTORY!!!”
The autopen has also become a focus of the right-leaning Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, which claims that Mr. Biden’s alleged use of an autopen given his “clear cognitive decline … raises additional questions for investigators.”
Regardless of the allegations, the autopen is hardly a novel device for the political sphere, with the Shapell Manuscript Foundation noting that one of the devices was bought by Thomas Jefferson soon after it was patented in 1803. Throughout U.S. history, presidents have relied on autopens, although the Shapell Manuscript Foundation notes that some commanders-in-chief have been guarded about their use of the machine.
“Whereas once the official White House position was to deny the existence or usage of the autopen, today its existence is more of an open secret,” the foundation notes.
A spokesperson for Mr. Biden didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
What is an autopen?
An autopen, also called a robot pen, is a machine that automates a person’s signature with a pen or other writing instrument, versus a scanned signature, which is a digital image of a signature.
Unlike people, the machine will never get writer’s cramp, and can replicate a person’s signature on high volumes of letters, certificates, diplomas and other documents, according to Automated Signature Technology, an autopen manufacturer.
Its Ghostwriter machine uses a smart card or USB flash drive to store signatures and phrases that can be replicated on paper. The company’s machines “write at human speed … to produce quality handwriting reproductions,” Automated Signature Technology says.
The Ghostwriter can use any type of writing instrument, from a ballpoint pen to crayons, and can write on a variety of materials with different thicknesses, it added.
Another autopen manufacturer, the Autopen Company, said its machines can be used for “signing certificates, correspondence, photographs and posters, almost anything up to 1/4 inch thick. Factory modifications can be incorporated for signing books and sports memorabilia.”
One site that sells autopens says that high-end machines used by governments can cost between $5,000 to $20,000 each.
Neither the Autopen Company nor Automated Signature Technology immediately responded to requests for comment from CBS MoneyWatch.
Have other presidents used autopens?
Yes. President Johnson even allowed the autopen to be photographed in the White House. The photo appeared in The National Enquirer with a 1968 article titled, “The Robot That Sits in for the President,” according to the Shapell Manuscript Foundation.
Other presidents who have relied on autopens include John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama, among others. Presidents have typically used an autopen to sign routine correspondence to constituents, like letters recognizing life milestones, as well as legislation and pardons.
During the Gerald Ford administration, the president and First Lady Betty Ford occasionally signed documents and other correspondence by hand, but White House staff more often used autopen machines to reproduce their signatures on letters and photographs.
Mr. Trump has also used an autopen, telling reporters on Air Force One in March that he’d used the device “only for very unimportant papers.”
“You know, we get thousands and thousands of letters, letters of support for young people, from people that aren’t feeling well, etcetera. But to sign pardons and all of the things that he signed with an autopen is disgraceful,” Mr. Trump said at the time, in reference to his claims former President Biden used the technology to sign pardons.
President George W. Bush asked the Justice Department in 2005 if it was constitutional to use an autopen to sign a bill, with the department concluding that “the president need not personally perform the physical act of affixing his signature to a bill he approves and decides to sign in order for the bill to become law.
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