The Daily Fuckup

The Trump White House did not merely revive a familiar right-wing complaint about Joe Biden’s use of an autopen. On June 4, 2025, it issued a presidential memorandum ordering an investigation into whether aides conspired to mislead the public about Biden’s mental state and whether executive actions taken in Biden’s name were properly authorized. The accompanying fact sheet repeated the same charge in even sharper language, saying the administration wanted answers about who was signing what and under what circumstances. That matters because the White House was not presenting a neutral records audit. It was turning a set of allegations into a formal executive-branch inquiry, which gives the claims a public force they did not have when they were just part of the partisan chatter around Biden’s final months in office. ([whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/06/reviewing-certain-presidential-actions/))

The memorandum goes well beyond asking whether a document carried the right signature. It says Biden’s aides abused presidential signature power through autopen use to conceal Biden’s cognitive decline, describes the supposed conduct as a conspiracy, and argues that executive actions taken in Biden’s name may have legal and constitutional consequences if Biden lacked capacity or if advisers secretly used a mechanical signature device to mask that incapacity. In other words, the White House is not just questioning paperwork. It is raising the possibility that a president’s aides functioned as the real engine of executive authority, while the president himself was kept out of view. Those are sweeping claims, but they remain claims. The memo directs an investigation; it does not establish the facts it alleges. ([whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/06/reviewing-certain-presidential-actions/))

That distinction is the key to reading the rollout. The administration’s language is aggressive enough to sound like a verdict, but the official record on June 4 was still a directive to investigate. The fact sheet says the review will examine documents signed with an autopen, who authorized its use, and the validity of resulting policy decisions. AP reported that Trump ordered the investigation while alleging aides masked Biden’s cognitive decline and casting doubt on the legitimacy of autopen-signed pardons and other actions. It also noted that Trump offered no evidence that Biden was unaware of the actions taken in his name, and that autopen use has been recognized by past administrations. ([whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/06/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-directs-review-of-certain-presidential-actions/))

Politically, that leaves the White House in a familiar trap. If the allegations are strong, supporters will say the government should prove them. If they are weak, critics will say the administration used official power to dress up a campaign attack as an inquiry. Legally, the administration is pointing at the validity of presidential actions, including pardons and other executive decisions, which is the kind of question that can generate fights over authority, process, and constitutional power. But even that fight depends on evidence, not rhetoric. The White House can order a review. It cannot turn suspicion into proof by writing it in the present tense. ([whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/06/reviewing-certain-presidential-actions/))