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Trump orders Attorney General to investigate Biden’s autopen use amid cognitive decline concerns
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President Donald Trump called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to lead an investigation into whether certain individuals working for former President Joe Biden conspired to deceive the public about his mental state while also exercising his presidential responsibilities by using an autopen.
In a memo on Wednesday, Trump said the president of the U.S. has a tremendous amount of power and responsibility through the signature. Not only can the signature turn words into laws of the land, but it also appoints individuals to some of the highest positions in government, creates or eliminates national policies and allows prisoners to go free.
«In recent months, it has become increasingly apparent that former President Biden’s aides abused the power of Presidential signatures through the use of an autopen to conceal Biden’s cognitive decline and assert Article II authority,» Trump wrote. «This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history. The American public was purposefully shielded from discovering who wielded the executive power, all while Biden’s signature was deployed across thousands of documents to effect radical policy shifts.»
He continued, saying Biden had suffered from «serious cognitive decline» for years, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) recently concluded that Biden should not stand trial, despite clear evidence he broke the law, because of his mental state.
EXCLUSIVE: COMER HAILS DOJ’S BIDEN PROBE AS HOUSE INVESTIGATION HEATS UP
President Trump called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to launch an investigation into whether former President Biden’s team used an autopen and covered up the former president’s cognitive decline. (Trump: Reuters / Autopen: AP)
«Biden’s cognitive issues and apparent mental decline during his presidency were even ‘worse’ in private, and those closest to him ‘tried to hide it’ from the public,» Trump said. «To do so, Biden’s advisors during his years in office severely restricted his news conferences and media appearances, and they scripted his conversations with lawmakers, government officials, and donors, all to cover up his inability to discharge his duties.»
Still, during the Biden presidency, the White House issued over 1,200 Presidential documents, appointed 235 judges to the federal bench and issued more pardons and commutations than any administration in U.S. history, Trump said.
The president wrote about Biden’s decision just two days before Christmas 2024, to commute the sentences of 37 of the 40 most dangerous criminals on federal death row, including mass murderers and child killers.
TRUMP SAYS BIDEN DIDN’T FAVOR HIS ADMIN’S LAX BORDER SECURITY POLICY, SUGGESTS AUTOPEN PLAYED A ROLE
A new book describes President Joe Biden’s cabinet meetings as «scripted» and «uncomfortable.» (Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Care Can’t Wait Action)
«Although the authority to take these executive actions, along with many others, is constitutionally committed to the President, there are serious doubts as to the decision-making process and even the degree of Biden’s awareness of these actions being taken in his name,» Trump wrote. «The vast majority of Biden’s executive actions were signed using a mechanical signature pen, often called an autopen, as opposed to Biden’s own hand. This was especially true of actions taken during the second half of his Presidency, when his cognitive decline had apparently become even more clear to those working most closely with him.
«Given clear indications that President Biden lacked the capacity to exercise his Presidential authority, if his advisors secretly used the mechanical signature pen to conceal this incapacity, while taking radical executive actions all in his name, that would constitute an unconstitutional wielding of the power of the Presidency, a circumstance that would have implications for the legality and validity of numerous executive actions undertaken in Biden’s name,» he added.
TRUMP HAS NOT DIRECTED ADMIN TO DECLASSIFY BIDEN DOCS ON HEALTH ‘COVER-UP’
President-elect Donald Trump shakes hands with U.S. President Joe Biden at Trump’s inauguration in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC (Kenny Holston-Pool/Getty Images)
The memo goes on to call for an investigation that addresses if certain individuals, who are not named in the document, conspired to deceive the American public about the former president’s mental state and «unconstitutionally» exercised the president’s authority and responsibilities.
Specifically, Trump called on the attorney general’s investigation to look at any activity that purposefully shielded the public from information about Biden’s mental and physical health; any agreements between his aides to falsely deem recorded videos of Biden’s cognitive ability as fake; and any agreements between Biden’s aides to require false, public statements that elevated the president’s capabilities.
The investigation will also look at which policy documents the autopen was used for, including clemency grants, executive orders, and presidential memoranda, as well as who directed Biden’s signature to be affixed to those documents.
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Trump said last week that he thinks Biden did not really agree with many of his administration’s lax border security policies, instead suggesting that those surrounding the former president took advantage of his declining faculties and utilized the autopen to pass radical directives pertaining to the border.
House Republicans, led by Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, launched an investigation earlier last month aimed at determining whether Biden, who was in declining health during the final months of his presidency, was mentally fit to authorize the use of the autopen. Comer said last week he was «open» to dragging Biden before the House to answer questions about the matter if necessary.
Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.
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New York Attorney General Letitia James was arraigned at a federal court in Norfolk, Virginia, Friday, where she pleaded not guilty to two felony charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution.
The charges against James stem from her 2020 purchase of a home in Norfolk, Virginia. Prosecutors allege that James misled a bank about the nature of the residence in order to obtain more favorable loan conditions.
The indictment states that James misrepresented the financial institution in claiming it would be her secondary residence, and instead rented it out to a family.
According to the indictment, the lower interest rate would allow James to save nearly $19,000 over the course of the 30-year loan.
LETITIA JAMES TO BE ARRAIGNED IN VIRGINIA ON FEDERAL BANK FRAUD CHARGES TIED TO 2020 HOME PURCHASE
NY AG Letitia James and President Donald Trump (Getty Images)
James entered the not guilty plea herself to U.S. District Judge Jamar K. Walker.
She is being represented in the case by defense attorney Abbe Lowell, and by Andrew Bosse, a former assistant U.S. attorney based in Norfolk who formerly headed up the office’s criminal division.
James’ arraignment is the latest in a string of prosecutions brought against the president’s perceived political foes, despite objections from career prosecutors — some of whom have since been fired or resigned.
James, a Democrat, has long-drawn Trump’s ire after she campaigned for attorney general in 2016 largely on vows to investigate Trump’s actions and businesses.
She also successfully secured a $450 million civil fraud case against him last year, though an appeals court later tossed the financial penalty portion of the case.
«This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system,» James said in a statement after she was indicted.
DOJ SEEKS REMOVAL OF COMEY’S DEFENSE LAWYER, CITING CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Trump denies B1 bombers flew toward Venezuela amid cartel threats. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
«These charges are baseless, and the president’s own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost,» she added.
Her indictment, like the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, was presented to a grand jury by former White House aide Lindsey Halligan, whom President Donald Trump installed as the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia last month.
Trump, in September, said he would install Halligan as the top prosecutor for the Eastern District of Virginia, replacing interim attorney Erik Siebert, who resigned under pressure to indict both Comey and James.
«No one is above the law. The charges as alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust,» Halligan said in a statement. «The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served.»
After the arraignment, it is likely that she will file a motion to dismiss her case for vindictive and selective prosecution, following similar steps taken by Comey’s legal team in Alexandria earlier this week.
She will also file a motion to dismiss her case based on what her lawyers will argue was the unlawful appointment of Halligan in securing her indictment.
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Lowell, her attorney, has described the case against her as «improper political retribution,» and vowed they would «fight these charges in every process allowed in the law.»
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to Fox News’s request for comment on the case, or whether Halligan or Keller would be joined by any other federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Speaking to reporters outside the court on Friday, James said the Justice Department is being used as a tool of «revenge,» and a «vehicle of retribution.»
«But my faith is strong,» she told the group that had massed outside the courthouse in Norfolk, Virginia, hours earlier. «I have a belief in the justice system.»
«Never cow down or break or bend. So there is no fear today,» she said. «I will not be deterred.»
Judge Walker set a trial date for Jan. 26, 2026, and ordered parties to appear back in court for motions hearings in early December.
politics,new york,federal courts,donald trump,crime world,virginia
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INTERNACIONAL
US kills 6 suspected narco-terrorists in overnight strike on alleged drug smuggling boat, Hegseth says
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President Donald Trump directed a nighttime U.S. strike on a suspected Tren de Aragua vessel in the Caribbean Sea, killing six alleged narco-terrorists, officials say.
«Overnight, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Tren de Aragua (TdA), a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO), trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean Sea,» War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on X sharing an accompanying video of the strike. «The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics.»
«Six male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters — and was the first strike at night,» he said. «All six terrorists were killed and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike.»
HEGSETH SAYS US CONDUCTED ANOTHER STRIKE IN EASTERN PACIFIC TARGETING ALLEGED NARCO-TRAFFICKERS
This infrared image released by the Department of War shows a suspected Tren de Aragua vessel in international waters of the Caribbean Sea before a U.S. nighttime strike that killed six alleged narco-terrorists, officials said. (Department of War/Pete Hegseth)
Hegseth further warned, «If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like we treat [al Qaeda]. Day or NIGHT, we will map your networks, track your people, hunt you down, and kill you.»
The strike marks the 10th operation targeting suspected drug traffickers since Trump returned to office. The president has made combating the nation’s drug crisis a central policy focus.
The first strike took place on Sept. 2, and since then, 43 suspected drug traffickers have been killed and two have survived, officials said. The pace of the strikes has increased from one every few weeks in September to three so far this week.
The operations have mostly targeted vessels linked to Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua network. The missions have ranged from attacks on smuggling boats to the destruction of a submersible, with footage of several operations released by Hegseth and Trump on social media.
TRUMP APPROVES MILITARY ACTION AGAINST LATIN AMERICAN CARTELS CLASSIFIED AS TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS
War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the latest strike Friday morning. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images )
When reporters asked Trump on Thursday whether he would request Congress issue a declaration of war against the cartels, he said that wasn’t the plan.
«I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country, OK? We’re going to kill them, you know? They’re going to be like, dead,» Trump said during a roundtable at the White House with homeland security officials.
Trump this month declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and said the U.S. was in an «armed conflict» with them.
Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle are questioning Trump’s decision to launch the operations without first consulting lawmakers. Several Democrats are warning that the strikes could breach international law.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has also raised concerns about killing people without due process and the possibility of killing innocent people.
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An infrared image released by the Department of War shows debris and smoke following a nighttime strike on a suspected Tren de Aragua vessel in international waters of the Caribbean Sea. Officials said six alleged narco-terrorists were killed in the operation. (Department of War)
In a recent interview, Paul cited Coast Guard statistics that show a significant percentage of boats boarded for suspicion of drug trafficking are innocent.
The senator has also argued that if the administration plans to engage in a war with Venezuela, as it has targeted boats in recent weeks it claims are transporting drugs for the Venezuela-linked Tren de Aragua gang, it must seek a declaration of war from Congress.
Fox News’ Landon Mion and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
narco terror,military,pete hegseth,donald trump,secretary of defense,world,drugs
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