The Biden Autopen

[Ben]

It appears that the majority of documents signed by Biden, including EO's, were signed by his autopen. There are questions regarding exactly who had control of the autopen, especially considering that on at least one occasion, Biden was unaware of an EO that he signed.

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-autopen-signature-official-docs-raising-concerns-over-who-controlled-wh-report

[MechAg94]

If they prove these were all autopen signatures, do they also have to show Biden was unaware of it?  Or would you say any autopen signature is invalid and has no Presidential authority?  Seems like a hard thing to prove unless you can document a time when one was signed and Biden was unable to sign it.

[Ben]

I'm not sure that anyone could prove anything one way or another. Mostly I think it just adds to the "Biden wasn't in charge" stuff. At this point I'd be willing to bet money that his handlers more than once used the autopen without him, but how to prove it?

I don't know how much stuff a President has to sign per day, so possibly there is some use for an autopen for daily housekeeping stuff. For things like EOs though, it seems like an autopen should not be allowed. An EO should be important and personal enough to any President, that they actually sign it. JMO.

[Hawkmoon]

I don't know how much stuff a President has to sign per day, so possibly there is some use for an autopen for daily housekeeping stuff. For things like EOs though, it seems like an autopen should not be allowed. An EO should be important and personal enough to any President, that they actually sign it. JMO.

I'll bet all those 1,500 pardons were signed using the autopen. Which (IMHO) should not be allowed.

[dogmush]

Wiki says autopens have been used for a long time by US Presidents.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autopen#U.S._Presidents

I confess I have no idea how the machine actually works. My digital Signature for the Army has my actual signature in it (So when I sign stuff as a Commander, my actual signature appears on the document) but you need both my CAC digital signature certificate and my PIN to get it to work.

I would assume that the President's "autopen" needs SOME kind of 2 Factor Authentication to get it to spit out a signature.  Or is it just a machine somewhere that stamps a sig when you push a button?

I would also assume for something like the the Presidential Autopen there is a log for how many times it signed something and someone authorized writes down what they were for.  Right?  THe White House couldn't be so stupid as to have absolutely no audit trail or validation for a presidential signature........Right?     Right?

*expletive deleted*it.

[cordex]

I would assume that the President's "autopen" needs SOME kind of 2 Factor Authentication to get it to spit out a signature.  Or is it just a machine somewhere that stamps a sig when you push a button?

I would wager it mostly relies on the physical security of the device but modern autopens do have controls and logging built into them (PIN or password authorization, data logging, signatures stored on removeable media, etc.).

[RocketMan]

I would not be in the least bit surprised if any PIN or other controls on Biden's autopen were compromised.  Given how out of it he was during his last year in office, it would not have taken much for whoever was actually running things to get control of the autopen.

[K Frame]

1979 movie called The Seduction of Joe Tynan.

Title role was played by Alan Alda. He's a US Senator. There's a scene, I can't remember the specifics, where it's a closeup of an autopen signing his name to letter after letter.

[Ben]

I'll bet all those 1,500 pardons were signed using the autopen. Which (IMHO) should not be allowed.

Interesting point. I'm pretty sure that Trump has signed all of his EOs himself, but I have to wonder if he signed all the hundreds(?) of pardons that he has issued already by hand? I would think that when it's a stack requiring a signature on every page, an autopen would have its uses, given that it was strictly monitored. I guess the issue is that it is somewhat unclear what the procedure is for both use and monitoring of the pen.

[Bogie]

I think the Jan6 pardon was a single executive order group thing.

[HankB]

I've heard of autopens being used for bulk mail - for example, POTUS probably sends out a bunch of Christmas cards, I've read (if requested) they'll send out birthday cards to people reaching 100, and the White House probably answers some of the mail it gets.

But for official documents, EOs, maybe even laws? Use of an autopen just doesn't seem right - on multiple levels.

[Perd Hapley]

Definitely used an autopen when "he" dropped out of the race.

[WLJ]

Definitely used an autopen when "he" dropped out of the race.

Saw something somewhere and IIRC they said that one he actually signed

[Ben]

Saw something somewhere and IIRC they said that one he actually signed

Yup, that's what I saw. Makes you wonder if a gun to the head was involved.

[MechAg94]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8nyEK11ZF4
This Benny Johnson video largely repeats what was already said, but at one point he mentions someone thinks some of those January pardons were signed while Biden was on vacation in the Virgin Islands.  IMO, being able to show Biden couldn't have signed the document would be the way to challenge some of that in court.  I don't think the autopen claim alone would do it.

[Jim147]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8nyEK11ZF4
This Benny Johnson video largely repeats what was already said, but at one point he mentions someone thinks some of those January pardons were signed while Biden was on vacation in the Virgin Islands.  IMO, being able to show Biden couldn't have signed the document would be the way to challenge some of that in court.  I don't think the autopen claim alone would do it.

Obama said I have a phone and a pen meaning he could do the autopen from anywhere. This is a waste of time. I know Biden was never in charge but this will go nowhere.

[WLJ]

One Biden White House source told The Post they suspect that a key aide to the then-president may have made unilateral determinations on what to auto-sign. The Post is not publishing that staffer’s name due to the lack of concrete evidence and refutations by other colleagues.

The Biden aide, who did not respond to requests for comment, would frequently make mention of what “the boss” wanted, the source said, but compatriots would have “no idea” if it was true because the internal culture was to not ask questions.

“Everyone” was suspicious of this individual exceeding their authority when claiming to speak for the president, the source said. “But no one would actually say it.”

Reportedly this is being confirmed by another source

 Trump establishes ‘far more restrictive’ autopen rules — as Biden aides murmur about possible misuse
https://nypost.com/2025/03/14/us-news/trump-establishes-far-more-restrictive-autopen-rules-as-biden-aides-murmur-about-possible-misuse/