Overview
- House Oversight Republicans released a roughly 90–100 page report alleging some executive actions and clemencies were signed by autopen without Joe Biden’s contemporaneous approval and asked the Justice Department to review all such actions.
- Attorney General Pam Bondi said her team has initiated a review of reported autopen use for pardons following the committee’s referral.
- The report refers former White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor and senior aides Annie Tomasini and Anthony Bernal to the DOJ for further review and urges the D.C. Board of Medicine to examine O’Connor.
- Democrats on the committee say interviews with 14 former Biden aides totaling nearly 60 hours show Biden authorized his decisions, and the GOP report identifies no documented instance of unauthorized autopen use.
- Analysts note a longstanding DOJ opinion permits autopen use when authorized by a president, and legal commentators say post‑hoc invalidation of pardons would be novel and difficult to sustain in court.