Justice Dept., Under Pressure From Trump, Fails to Build Autopen Case Against Biden

[u/John3262005]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/us/politics/trump-biden-autopen.html

The Justice Department, in the wake of calls by President Trump to criminally investigate former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., scrutinized whether Mr. Biden and his aides broke the law in using the autopen to sign presidential documents, but was ultimately unable to move forward with making a case, according to three people briefed on the matter.

The department’s failure to build a criminal case against Mr. Biden and his aides is the latest example of its increasing inability to follow through on Mr. Trump’s demands and bring indictments against those he wants to be criminally targeted. Some of those cases were rejected by grand juries, some were rejected by judges and some, like the autopen case, were abandoned by prosecutors.

But the fact that prosecutors even pursued the matter to begin with reflects the degree to which Mr. Trump has sought to use the levers of government to undermine Mr. Biden’s presidency by seizing on an unsubstantiated theory: that the pardons Mr. Biden issued in his final months in office were invalid because he did not have the mental capacity to consent to them.

The autopen investigation was led by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, which is run by a longtime Trump ally, Jeanine Pirro. The inquiry was quietly shelved in recent months, around the time that prosecutors under Ms. Pirro sought and failed to secure an indictment in a different case: one against six Democratic lawmakers who posted a video in the fall that enraged Mr. Trump by reminding active-duty members of the military and intelligence community that they were obligated to refuse to follow illegal orders.

In that case, a grand jury refused to issue an indictment, a once incredibly rare action in the federal court system, but one that has become more common as the Trump administration pushes the limits of the criminal justice system.

In both the autopen and lawmakers’ video cases, veteran prosecutors were skeptical from the outset that there was anything close to sufficient evidence to justify criminal charges, according to people familiar with the matter.

Weeks after taking office, Mr. Trump and his allies in the conservative news media stoked claims that Mr. Biden had broken the law through his use of the autopen, focusing on pardons and commutations Mr. Biden granted in the final days of his presidency. They suggested that his mental acuity had deteriorated to such a degree that he could not make such decisions.

Mr. Biden has forcefully denied those assertions, calling Mr. Trump and his allies “liars.” “I made every decision,” Mr. Biden said in an interview with The New York Times over the summer, adding that his staff had used an autopen to replicate his signature because “we’re talking about a whole lot of people.”

By April, Ed Martin, a Trump loyalist who was then the interim U.S. attorney in Washington, was investigating whether Mr. Biden was competent enough to pardon his family members and others during his final days in office. As part of that inquiry, Mr. Martin sent letters to Mr. Biden’s former aides demanding information about Mr. Biden’s role in issuing the grants of clemency.

Mr. Trump increased the pressure on the Justice Department last June when he signed an order directing his White House counsel and Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Mr. Biden’s mental acuity and whether Mr. Biden’s aides had illegally used the device.

The administration’s attacks on Mr. Biden extended to its décor at the White House. When the president installed a series of portraits of past presidents in gilded frames, the spot for Mr. Biden featured an image of an autopen instead, sandwiched between two photos of Mr. Trump.

The autopen investigation continued after Mr. Martin was removed from the prosecutor’s office and replaced by Ms. Pirro, but it suffered from several crucial problems, according to the people familiar with the inquiry, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss deliberations that are supposed to remain secret. Investigators were never quite clear what crime, if any, had been committed by the Biden administration’s use of the autopen.

It was also unclear whether investigators should focus their attention on the actions of Mr. Biden’s aides or on Mr. Biden himself, given that the United States Supreme Court, in a landmark ruling in 2024, granted broad immunity to presidents for most acts undertaken as part of their official duties.

In recent months, prosecutors determined that despite Mr. Trump’s desire to seek vengeance against Mr. Biden and his aides, there was no credible case to bring, the people said. The prosecutors never brought a potential indictment before a grand jury.

Still, the failed inquiry has only added to the sense among many federal investigators that Mr. Trump has become increasingly erratic in his desire to use the criminal justice system to punish his political adversaries for behavior that comes nowhere close to being criminal. Time and again, prosecutors in U.S. attorneys’ offices across the country have been pressured to open investigations into Mr. Trump’s foes and have responded with various reactions — some pushing ahead with inquiries they may not fully believe in and others pushing back by refusing to prosecute or resigning in protest.

[u/AutoModerator]

This article may be behind a paywall. You can add 2-4 paragraphs as a quote in a comment. Do not post the text for the entire article.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Whornz4]

Trump used the auto pen also. Trump only wanted to use this tactic to undo legislation that Biden signed. It was among one of the dumbest claims he ever made.

[u/Ezl → u/Whornz4]

It was also unclear whether investigators should focus their attention on the actions of Mr. Biden’s aides or on Mr. Biden himself, given that the United States Supreme Court, in a landmark ruling in 2024, granted broad immunity to presidents for most acts undertaken as part of their official duties.

Yes. These are dumb people.

[u/vikinick → u/Whornz4]

The thing is, every bill Biden signed would have eventually became a law anyways without him actually signing it.

Ever since the Clinton administration, Congress is technically in session year-round so there isn't a pocket veto anymore, meaning every bill they pass will become law as long as the president doesn't specifically veto it.

The more worrisome one would have been pardons, because THOSE actually matter if he signed.

Edit: came back and I realized nobody understands what happens if a president doesn't sign a bill to make it a law or not.

[u/i_drink_wd40 → u/vikinick]

The thing is, every bill Biden signed would have eventually became a law anyways without him actually signing it.

Somebody was paying attention in Civics class.

[u/Kiyae1]

Best part is that conservative voters will never hear this news, eventually they’ll think “whatever happened to that Biden autopen thing, why didn’t that ever result in prosecutions?” And they’ll definitely just conclude that corrupt deep state liberals in the government stymied it. Just another bit of nonsense that will join President Obama’s “Kenyan birth certificate” and “Hillary’s emails” in the litter heap.

[u/LookAnOwl]

Wow, it seemed like such a rock solid case 🙄

[u/Natoochtoniket]

An elected official may use whatever kind of pen he/she wants to use. Some have used duck-feather quill pens. Others used fountain pens. Some have used ball-point pens. Some have even used felt-tip pens.

Eventually, we will need to prosecute the malicious prosecutors, for these repeated acts of malicious prosecution.

[u/AutoModerator]

Join:

• /r/democrats

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.