Trump directs probe into Biden's use of autopen

U.S. President Donald Trump directed his White House counsel on Wednesday to investigate whether former President Joe Biden's aides covered up alleged mental decline and unlawfully used an autopen on Biden's behalf to sign policy documents, Reuters reports.

Biden, who is fighting cancer, said he was responsible for the decisions made during his administration and suggested Trump's move was designed to distract Americans from a bill in Congress that would extend tax cuts for the wealthy, Reuters reports.

Republican Trump has long asserted that Biden, a Democrat who defeated him in the 2020 presidential election, was mentally incompetent and has suggested the use of a mechanical pen to sign memos, executive orders and grants of clemency during Biden's four-year-term may have been improper, potentially rendering them invalid.

In a statement late on Wednesday, Biden dismissed those suggestions.

“Let me be clear: 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," he said in a statement.

Biden's team said the use of an autopen is a well-established legal practice following a presidential decision.