By: Tzirel Rosenblatt

The growing political storm surrounding former President Joe Biden’s mental fitness and alleged use of an autopen to authorize key executive actions has reached a new and combustible stage. According to a report that appeared on Tuesday at Fox News Digital, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) is formally demanding that the Department of Justice open a “comprehensive” investigation into what he calls a “systemic deception” by Biden’s inner circle—one designed to conceal the president’s cognitive decline while enabling surrogates to conduct official business in his name.

The demand comes alongside the release of a 100-page Oversight Committee report on Tuesday, the culmination of a months-long investigation into whether senior White House officials, aides, and even the president’s physician participated in what Comer describes as “a coordinated effort to mask incapacity and maintain power.” The report—obtained and analyzed by Fox News Digital—paints a grim portrait of governance by proxy, alleging that aides “hid the truth about the former president’s condition” and “took actions that may nullify the legitimacy of key executive orders, pardons, and directives.”

At the heart of the Oversight Committee’s report is an explosive claim: that President Biden’s autopen—a mechanical device that reproduces a signature—was used for an unspecified number of executive orders, proclamations, and pardons that may not have been personally authorized by Biden himself.

In plain terms, the committee is asking whether an unelected circle of aides effectively exercised presidential powers without legal standing. The report argues that the lack of contemporaneous documentation surrounding these decisions casts “serious doubt on whether Biden was even aware of—or capable of comprehending—the actions taken in his name.”

“Faced with the cognitive decline of President Joe Biden,” the report reads, “White House aides—at the direction of the inner circle—hid the truth about the former president’s condition and fitness for office.”

The committee further asserts that the “haphazard documentation process” for clemency decisions, including pardons issued in the final months of Biden’s term, may have rendered those acts invalid. “In the absence of sufficient contemporaneous documentation indicating that a cognitively deteriorating President Biden himself made a given executive decision, such decisions do not carry the force of law and should be considered void,” the report concludes.

Comer’s committee therefore urges the Department of Justice to conduct a full-scale review of every executive action taken between January 20, 2021, and January 19, 2025—with special emphasis on all acts of clemency.

As detailed in the Fox News Digital report, one of the most controversial revelations in the report involves Hunter Biden, who allegedly participated in White House discussions about presidential pardons—including those for five members of the Biden family, Dr. Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley, and even members of Congress who served on the January 6th Select Subcommittee.

The evidence stems from sworn testimony by former White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, who told investigators that Hunter Biden was “in the room” for several pardon discussions “towards the very end” of the administration.

According to excerpts of Zients’ deposition cited in the Fox News Digital report, he recalled “family discussions” regarding pardons and confirmed that Hunter’s participation was not isolated. “It was the pardons towards the very end,” Zients said, describing the atmosphere as informal yet consequential.

The Oversight Committee report describes this as “a shocking breach of ethical norms,” arguing that Hunter’s presence compromised the integrity of the clemency process and may have violated White House policy. “President Biden included his son, Hunter Biden, in the decision-making process for and meetings about pardons,” the report states flatly.

The report’s authors claim that throughout the investigation—spanning 14 witnesses, 47 hours of testimony, and more than three months of interviews—not a single senior White House aide admitted to expressing concerns about Biden’s cognitive health.

As the Fox News Digital report noted, witnesses ranged from longtime Biden confidants to senior advisors and communications staff. Yet, despite mounting public concern over Biden’s frequent verbal missteps and visibly diminished vigor, aides “maintained a perspective of cognitive health completely disconnected from that of the American public.”

“Not one of the Committee’s 14 witnesses was willing to admit that they ever had a concern about President Biden being in cognitive decline,” the report states. “In fact, numerous witnesses could not recall having a single conversation about President Biden’s cognitive health with anyone inside or outside of the White House.”

For Comer, the testimony confirmed what many Republicans have long suspected: a culture of enforced silence surrounding Biden’s capacity to lead. “The American people deserve to know who was really making decisions in the Oval Office,” Comer said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

One of the report’s sharpest rebukes is directed at Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the former White House physician, who invoked his Fifth Amendment right during the committee’s deposition process. According to the report at Fox News Digital, O’Connor answered only a single question—his name—and refused to elaborate on whether he had ever conducted a cognitive exam on Biden.

Comer and his Republican colleagues characterize O’Connor’s silence as damning. “Dr. O’Connor’s refusal to answer questions about the execution of his duties as physician to the president—combined with testimony indicating that he may have succumbed to political pressure—legitimizes the public’s concerns that he was not forthright in carrying out his duties to the country,” the report states.

It accuses the physician of issuing “grossly misleading medical assessments” and failing to conduct basic neurological evaluations, which the committee calls “reckless.”

In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital, Comer urged the D.C. Health Board of Medicine to open a formal inquiry into O’Connor’s professional conduct—and, if warranted, to revoke his license. “The Board must review whether Dr. O’Connor produced false or misleading medical reports to the American people,” the letter insists.

O’Connor’s attorneys defended his silence, telling Fox News Digital that their client’s invocation of the Fifth Amendment stemmed from his obligation to maintain doctor–patient confidentiality. “He was placed in an impossible position,” one lawyer said. “The committee’s questions risked violating legal and ethical duties to his patient.”

The Biden team has responded with withering criticism, labeling the Oversight Committee’s report a “political stunt” rooted in conspiracy theories rather than evidence.

“This investigation into baseless claims has confirmed what has been clear from the start: President Biden made the decisions of his presidency,” a Biden spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “There was no conspiracy, no cover-up, and no wrongdoing. Congressional Republicans should stop focusing on political retribution and instead work to end the government shutdown.”

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the Oversight Committee, went further, dismissing the GOP’s findings as “an embarrassing waste of taxpayer money.” In remarks to Fox News Digital, Garcia said: “Every White House official testified President Biden fully executed his duties as President of the United States. The testimonies also make it clear the former President authorized every executive order, pardon, and use of the autopen.”

Democrats have portrayed the inquiry as the culmination of a two-year campaign by Comer and other Republicans to delegitimize the former president. Still, Fox News Digital reported that even some moderate Democrats privately concede that the autopen revelations—though perhaps exaggerated—raise uncomfortable questions about transparency and executive oversight.

The autopen, a mechanical signing device long used by presidents to expedite document authentication, has historically stirred little controversy. However, as the Fox News Digital report explained, the Biden-era debate centers not on the technology itself but on who authorized its use and under what circumstances.

The Oversight Committee argues that Biden’s aides used the autopen not merely for administrative convenience but as a substitute for direct presidential consent—effectively turning a procedural tool into a veil for incapacitation. The committee cites numerous executive orders, proclamations, and letters of clemency lacking detailed records of Biden’s explicit approval.

If substantiated, these claims could have constitutional implications. “In the absence of documentation confirming that President Biden personally approved these actions,” the report warns, “the authenticity and legality of such documents remain in question.”

The report at Fox News Digital noted that the White House maintains rigorous protocols for autopen use, including explicit presidential authorization and verification logs. Yet the committee insists that such safeguards were “routinely ignored” or “retroactively fabricated.”

Reaction to Comer’s report has followed predictable partisan lines. Republicans have hailed it as a necessary step toward transparency, while Democrats accuse the Oversight Committee of staging political theater.

Still, the timing of the revelations—coming just months after Biden’s widely criticized June 2024 debate performance against then-candidate Donald Trump—has renewed public scrutiny of the former president’s fitness during his final year in office.

As the Fox News Digital report recalled, that debate, marked by halting answers and prolonged pauses, triggered a wave of speculation about Biden’s cognitive health. A subsequent New York Times interview in July, in which Biden insisted he “made every decision on his own,” did little to quiet doubts.

Comer’s report, however, goes further than any prior inquiry in alleging a systematic deception within the highest levels of government—a deception, he argues, that undermines the constitutional legitimacy of Biden’s presidency itself.

“The American people have a right to know whether they were governed by their elected president or by his unelected aides,” Comer told Fox News Digital. “If the Department of Justice fails to investigate this, it will send a chilling message about accountability at the highest level of government.”

The Justice Department has not yet indicated whether it will heed Comer’s demand for a comprehensive review. Nor has Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg—to whom a parallel referral was sent—publicly commented.

Legal scholars consulted by Fox News Digital caution that overturning or voiding executive actions would set an extraordinary precedent, requiring proof not merely of incapacity but of outright fraud. Nonetheless, they agree that the Oversight Committee’s findings—if verified—could spur reforms to ensure that future administrations document presidential authorization with greater precision.

The controversy also highlights a broader crisis of public trust. According to several polls cited in the Fox News Digital report, a growing majority of Americans believe that government institutions routinely conceal information from voters—a sentiment that transcends party lines.

In that respect, Comer’s inquiry, however politically charged, taps into a deeper unease about transparency, legitimacy, and the erosion of democratic confidence.

Whether the Oversight Committee’s findings amount to proof of misconduct or merely feed the partisan echo chamber, the stakes could not be higher. If DOJ investigators substantiate claims that aides or family members authorized official acts on Biden’s behalf, it would mark an unprecedented breach of constitutional procedure.

For now, the White House continues to dismiss the allegations as “baseless,” while Comer and his Republican allies insist that the evidence points to something far more troubling—a presidency run, in effect, by delegation and concealment.

As the Fox News Digital report observed, “the battle over the autopen has become a battle over the truth itself: who held the pen of power, and who really governed in Joe Biden’s name.”

Until those questions are answered, one thing remains certain—James Comer’s inquiry has opened yet another front in America’s ongoing reckoning with the integrity of its highest office.