President Donald Trump intensified his assertions that officials using an autopen undermined the actions of his predecessor, Joe Biden, even suggesting Thursday that “essentially whoever used the autopen was president.” “I happen to think I know” who was using a tool that allows for auto signatures, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, while saying it was the “biggest scandal” in years. The Justice Department under Democratic and Republican administrations has recognized the use of an autopen to sign legislation and issue pardons for decades. Trump presented no evidence that Biden was unaware of the actions taken in his name, and the president’s absolute pardon power is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. “It’s a very bad thing, very dangerous,” Trump said, arguing that, “Essentially, whoever used the autopen was the president.” Those comments came a day after Trump directed his administration to investigate Biden’s actions as president, alleging aides masked his predecessor’s “cognitive decline” and casting doubts on the legitimacy of his use of the autopen to sign pardons and other documents. An executive order he signed marked a significant escalation in Trump’s targeting of political adversaries and could lay the groundwork for arguments by the Republican that a range of Biden’s actions as president were invalid. Biden responded in a statement Wednesday night: “Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false.” Trump wrote in a memo Wednesday that, “This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history.” The American public, he said, “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.” Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House counsel David Warrington to handle the investigation. Even as Trump doubled down on his accusations, it is unclear how far Trump will push this effort, which would face certain legal challenges. It nonetheless reflects his fixation on Biden, who defeated him in 2020, an election that Trump never conceded and continues to falsely claim was rigged against him. In lobbing allegations against Biden on Thursday, Trump continued to insist that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Trump frequently suggests that Biden was wrong to use an autopen, a mechanical device that replicates a person’s authentic signature. Although they’ve been used in the White House for decades, Trump claims that Biden’s aides were usurping presidential authority. Biden issued pardons for his two brothers and his sister shortly before leaving office, hoping to shield them from potential prosecution under Trump, who had promised retribution during last year’s campaign. Other Biden pardon recipients included members of a congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Trump often suggests that his political opponents should be investigated, and he has directed the Justice Department to look into people who have angered him over the years. They include Chris Krebs, a former cybersecurity official who disputed Trump’s claims of a stolen election in 2020, and Miles Taylor, a former Department of Homeland Security official who wrote an anonymous op-ed sharply critical of the president in 2018. Meanwhile, House Oversight Chairman James Comer of Kentucky, […]