WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has long focused on his predecessor’s use of the autopen during his presidency to sign official documents. Now he has called for an investigation into former President Joe Biden’s reliance on the mechanical device.
Presidential use of the autopen has not been outlawed or ruled unconstitutional. And Trump himself has acknowledged allowing his staff to use it to sign letters on his behalf.
Yet the president has come down repeatedly on Biden for using an autopen amid fresh allegations that the ex-president’s health was in decline while he was in office. He has accused former White House aides, without evidence, of signing documents, including presidential pardons, without Biden’s knowledge.
“Whoever used the autopen was the president,” he told reporters on June 5, implying aides were assuming the role of commander-in-chief. “And that is wrong, it’s illegal, it’s so bad.”
Which presidents have used the autopen?
Presidents are thought to have employed the autopen for more than 200 years, since the time of Thomas Jefferson, who obtained one of the machines after it came under patent in 1803, according to the Shapell Manuscript Foundation.
Gerald Ford, Lyndon B. Johnson, George W. Bush and Barack Obama are all known to have made use of the device. Obama became the first president to rely on an autopen to sign a piece of legislation in 2011, in order to push through a bill extending the Patriot Act that arrived on his desk while he was on a trip to France.
Trump orders investigation of Joe Biden’s alleged ‘cognitive decline’ and use of autopen
The dispute with Biden goes further: Trump and his aides have accused Biden’s staff of illegal activity.
“It’s whether or not the president of the United States knew it was being used, and if not, who was using it in his name, which is clearly illegal behavior,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a June 3 briefing.
The former president knocked down the allegations, calling them a “distraction,” in a June 4 statement in response to Trump’s latest assault on him. Biden said he “made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations” during his presidency.
Is the autopen legal?
The Justice Department in 2005 determined that use of the autopen was legal.
“We find that, pursuant to this understanding, a person may sign a document by directing that his signature be affixed to it by another,” a DOJ memo said.
Legal scholars have further argued that nothing in the Constitution requires presidents to sign pardons, even if Biden did use an autopen.
Elaborating on his views, Trump said on June 5 that he believes it’s “inappropriate” to use the autopen for documents, even for relatively minor directives such as ambassador appointments. “I think it’s very disrespectful to people when they get an autopen signature,” he said.
What about Trump?
Trump admitted in his remarks to reporters that he uses the autopen, too. But he suggested he does not use the device that mimics his signature when he signs important documents.
“Autopens, to me, are used when thousands of letters come in from young people all over the country,” Trump said.
He said the president of the United States receives thousands of letters a week, and it’s not possible for him to respond to each one individually. “To me, that’s where autopens start and stop,” he said.
“I’m not a big autopen person,” Trump declared. “It’s an easy way out.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump accuses Biden of misusing presidential autopen
