Neera Tanden, Biden’s senior advisor and White House Staff Secretary, admitted during her testimony to the House Oversight hearing on the former president’s mental decline to having control of Biden’s autopen. The committee chairman, James Comer, had warned that the committee has identified senior White House officials suspected of wielded the autopen – likely without Biden’s knowledge.
Tandem appeared before the committee under oath when she admitted to having been authorized to use the autopen between October 2021 and May 2023. However, she denied having misused or wielded the pen without Biden’s authority.
“As staff secretary, I was responsible for handling the flow of documents to and from the president,” she said, according to the Washington Examiner. “I was also authorized to direct that autopen signatures be affixed to certain categories of documents.”
While Tandem was not linked to the most recent pardons, Biden pardoned six individuals convicted of various drug-related crimes and murder via autopen while vacationing in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, on December 30, 2022.
Tandem also admitted that she could not confirm whether those orders came directly from Biden, as the authorization system was inherited from previous administrations.
“We had a system for authorizing the use of the autopen that I inherited from prior administrations. We employed that system throughout my tenure as staff secretary.”
According to WCSI, Tandem would send decision memos to members of Biden’s inner circle and receive the necessary authorizations to use the autopen. However, she could not confirm the actions they took to obtain the former president’s approval.
The names of the officials who returned the authorizations also remain unreported at this time and will likely remain so until the hearing concludes. However, Tandem was reporting to Biden’s White House Chief of Staff, Ron Klain, from October 2021.
Meanwhile, CNN journalist Jake Tapper’s book detailed how shadowy White House officials conspired to run the country if Biden won the 2024 election but was unable to perform his presidential duties.
“He just had to win, and then he could disappear for four years. He’d only have to show proof of life every once in a while. His aides could pick up the slack,” Fox News “Sunday” host Shannon Bream quoted the book.
When asked about Biden’s decline, whether she discussed it, and if there were attempts to hide it, Tandem denied that had occurred. Nonetheless, she reiterated her willingness to cooperate with the House Oversight Committee to investigate it.
Rep. Comer promised to follow the trail wherever it leads them and even subpoena everyone mentioned, including members of the Biden family and the former president himself.
“We’re going to see who was giving the directive to sign these,” he previously said. “If everyone says it was Joe Biden, then I’m certainly open to bring him in.”
It remains unclear if Tandem mentioned the names of Biden’s inner circle who allegedly issued the authorizations. If so, they should be next in line to explain how they allegedly authorized the use of the autopen and Biden’s input in the process.
While the person wielding the autopen during Biden’s most recent pardons remains unknown, Tandem’s testimony sets the stage for future investigations.
Meanwhile, former First Lady Jill Biden’s senior advisor, Anthony Bernal, Biden’s former deputy chief of staff, Annie Tomasini, and former deputy director of Oval Office operations, Ashley Williams, are also expected to testify under oath.
Kind of scary if people can use for anything without knowing
She can’t testify that Biden gave her authorization and was cognizant of the fact at the time or not!
Basically she can lie to her hearts content, but she can’t disprove Bidens mental deficit.
No official U.S. document should allow the president to use an ‘auto-pen’ for their signature. If that’s not already law, it should be. Get busy Congress and do your job to prevent a LyinBiden from ever happening again.
No, get rid of the autopen.
Agreed. The autopen is only to be used for congratulatory award recognition (e.g., Eagle Scout), anniversities, birthdays and similar.
My Roosevelt Democrat grandfather received a note from Pres. Reagan for fifty years of marriage. He was quite proud of it. I doubt The Gipper signed it personally.