The president also maintained that, if Biden claims to have authorized those processes, he could face perjury charges. Trump asserted that the practice may have allowed unelected officials to make decisions without the explicit endorsement of the president, which compromises the legitimacy of measures adopted by the previous administration.
The use of the autopen has precedents in several presidencies and has been employed to sign everything from routine correspondence to official proclamations. Its legal validity is usually linked to the existence of presidential authorization, either explicit or documented.
