US President Donald Trump announced Friday that all documents signed by former Democratic President Joe Biden with an autopen stand terminated. He claimed that 92 percent of Biden's orders were signed using an autopen, a device that replicates a given signature. While declaring the cancellation of executive orders, he claimed that the autopen was illegally operated.
In a post on Truth Social, the Republican President said, Any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen, which was approximately 92% of them, is hereby terminated, and of no further force or effect. The Autopen is not allowed to be used if approval is not specifically given by the President of the United States. The Radical Left Lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the Presidency away from him. I am hereby cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden, because the people who operated the Autopen did so illegally. Joe Biden was not involved in the Autopen process and, if he says he was, he will be brought up on charges of perjury. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
The autopen, a robotic device that produces a copy of a person's signature using real ink, was patented in the United States in 1803. It is commonly used to sign materials in bulk.
According to 2005 guidance from the Justice Department, the "president need not personally perform the physical act of affixing his signature to a bill he approves and decides to sign for the bill to become law," the Guardian reported. The President can instead appoint or direct a subordinate to affix his/her signature to sign such a bill, for instance, by autopen.
Trump has time and again repeatedly criticised Joe Biden for using an autopen during his term as the President of the United States. While the practice of using the device has been routine in the Oval Office, the US President has claimed that Biden's reliance on the autopen shows he was unable to control the executive office.