The shocking date of Biden’s first use of the autopen exposed… and it’s earlier than previously known

During an explosive Republican-led hearing on Joe Biden’s rapid decline over the course of his four-year presidency, shocking details emerged about the extensive use of an autopen by the former president.

One of the witnesses called by the Senate Judiciary committee was Theo Wold, currently a Visiting Fellow for Law and Technology Policy at The Heritage Foundation, a Washington, DC – based conservative think tank. 

Wold is also a board member of the Oversight Project, an independent, nonprofit organization previously a part of Heritage.

The Oversight Project’s research discovered that the first time President Joe Biden used an autopen was five days into his presidency, Wold stated as part of his sworn testimony.

“The autopen is a device that signs the president’s signature to a document. The Oversight Project, of which I am a board member, has discovered that the Biden White House deployed an autopen to affix President Biden’s signature to pardons, prison commutations, executive orders, and presidential proclamations,’ Wold noted. 

“The Oversight Project’s research has found that the Biden White House first deployed the autopen to affix President Biden’s signature to a proclamation on day five of his administration and that there were at least three different autopen signatures in use throughout president Biden’s tenure in the White House,’ Wold continued.

He added: ‘In June 2022, the Biden White House began deploying the autopen to sign clemency warrants and executive orders. Autopen use skyrocketed from there. We found that of the 51 clemency warrants issued during the Biden presidency, over half, 32 in total, were signed with an autopen.’

Another eyebrow-raising revelation Wold shared was that after a review of the president’s public schedule, and publicly available media, the Oversight Project was not able to find evidence of Biden ‘personally approving these actions, such as a statement.’

Researchers at the Oversight Project discovered that the autopen was used to affix President Biden’s signature to a proclamation on day five of his administration.

Theodore Wold, Visiting Fellow for Law and Technology Policy, The Heritage Foundation, testifies during a Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, June 18, 2025, in Washington.

Wold additionally disclosed that many of the days the autopen was used were days that the President was in Washington, DC for at least part of the day.

Wold was formerly the Acting-Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Policy at the Department of Justice and Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy during the first Trump Administration.

Before that, he served as Deputy Chief Counsel to United States Senator Mike Lee on the Senate Judiciary Committee, before which he testified Wednesday.

Echoing Wold’s concerns about evidence of Biden personally approving the times his autopen was used, Senator Josh Hawley called up the former president to release documents.

Hawley’s fellow Missouri colleague Eric Schmitt doubled down on he claims that nameless and faceless staffers were in control during the course of the Biden Presidency. 

Schmitt brought a graphic with him to Wednesday’s hearing which showcased blacked out silhouettes, underneath which ’46th, Liberal Staffers, 2021-2025′ was written. 

Earlier in the hearing, Democrat Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) tried to flip the script on his Republican colleagues.

In his opening statement, Durbin attempted to paint Donald Trump, 79, as the one who is not fully mentally competent, not his predecessor Joe Biden. 

To prove his point, Durbin brought up the recent incident of Trump saying the UK was the same thing as the EU.   

A clip of Trump announcing the signing of the US/UK trade deal with Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the G7 meeting in Canada earlier this week quickly went viral.

‘Now, I’d like you to see a short video that includes some other examples of cognitive ability,’ Durbin stated, prior to showing a video compilation of what he said were gaffes, not by Biden, but Trump.

After the video, Durbin asked ‘do any of these statements raise the question of cognitive ability?’ 

Standing alongside Starmer, Trump said on Monday: ‘We signed it and it’s done’, before mistakenly announcing the deal was with the European Union, rather than the UK.

He added: ‘It’s a fair deal for both. It’ll produce a lot of jobs, a lot of income.’

And as Trump attempted to open a black folder with the signed agreement inside, several papers spilled out on to the floor, prompting Starmer to quickly bend down and intervene. 

‘Oops sorry about that,’ the president said, before Starmer tried to brush off the gaffe by quipping: ‘It’s a very important document.’ 

U.S. President Donald Trump holds a document next to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as they speak to the media during the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, June 16, 2025

Prime Minister Mark Carney gestures where to look as he stands with French President Emmanuel Macron, left to right, United States President Donald Trump and United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the official family photo, Monday, June 16, 2025. Kananaskis.

A majority of the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee did not show up to take part in Wednesday’s hearing.

Senate Republicans are doubling down on the efforts of Republicans on the House Oversight Committee, which has called former top Biden White House aides to appear for transcribed interviews. 

A number of these former aides were subpoenaed last Congress, and had their subpoenas blocked by the Biden White House. 

Joe Biden’s former White House Physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor has been issued a formal subpoena to appear before the House oversight committee, after not agreeing to appear before the committee voluntarily.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer announced earlier in June that he was issuing a formal subpoena to Biden’s former White House Physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor.

The move was the latest escalation as the top Republican-led committee ramped up its investigation into the ‘cover-up’ of former President Joe Biden’s mental decline.

Chairman Comer ordered O’Connor to appear for a deposition on June 27 before his committee.

Representative James Comer speaks during the House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Coronavirus Pandemic hearing in Rayburn building at the United States Capitol in Washington D.C., on June 3, 2024

Kevin C. O’Connor, President Joe Biden’s former White House doctor has been issued a formal subpoena by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer.

Commenting on the importance of his investigation, Comer told members of the media earlier in June that the ‘American people deserve full transparency and the House Oversight Committee is conducting a thorough investigation to provide answers and accountability. The cover-up of President Biden’s mental decline is one of the greatest scandals in our nation’s history.’

Comer’s subpoena comes on the heels of President Donald Trump’s recent announcement via executive order, demanding a federal investigation into former President Biden’s staff.

‘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,’ Trump said in the order.

In his opening statement, Durbin attempted to paint Donald Trump , 79, as the one who is not fully mentally competent, not his predecessor Joe Biden

The US-UK trade deal has been signed and is ‘done’, US President Donald Trump has said after holding crunch talks with Sir Keir Starmer at the G7 summit 

Under Trump’s order, all of the pardons, clemency grants, executive orders, presidential memoranda, and other presidential policy decisions issued by Biden will be investigated.

Actions under review would include Biden’s pardons for son Hunter and other family members and orders related to a variety of areas including education, immigration, health care, climate change and more.

Trump has argued the use of the autopen invalidates Biden’s orders. If his administration can get the courts to agree, it could undo thousands of actions taken by the former president.

It’s unclear which documents from the Biden administration were signed by the then-president and which may have been signed by an electronic pen.

Biden hit back at Trump hours after the executive order was signed, accusing the president of seeking out distractions to avoid criticism over bad legislation making its way through Congress.

‘Let me be clear,’ he said. ‘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.

‘This is nothing more than a distraction by Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans,’ Biden stated.

Biden added at the time that Trump and his allies ‘are working to push disastrous legislation that would cut essential programs like Medicaid and raise costs on American families, all to pay for tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations.’

During his time in office, Biden was pictured signing some orders while in office, including ones on the use of AI and on gun safety issues.

Biden’s allies have pushed back on reports his mental and physical health were on the decline during his tenure.