President Donald Trump directed a widespread investigation of former President Joe Biden and administration officials on Wednesday, accusing his aides of using “auto-start” signatures to cover up his “cognitive decline” and claiming presidential power.

Trump often uses Biden as a political foil and has been revoking many of the policies of his predecessor administration since he returned to office.

The announcement directed White House legal counsel and Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday to investigate whether anyone “agitated to deceive the public of Biden’s mental state and exercised the president’s authorities and responsibilities unconstitutionally.” This marks an escalation of issues often raised by Trump and his allies, which may argue for Republicans that many of Biden’s actions as president are ineffective.

"This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and dangerous scandals in American history," Trump wrote in a memo. "As Biden's signature was deployed in thousands of documents to achieve radical policy shifts, the American public purposefully avoided discovering those who enforced powers."

Trump has admitted to using automatic opening himself during his tenure. He said he said he was “just for very important papers”, such as reply to letters.

"But it's terrible to use them for the purpose of using them," he added.

Trump argues further in Wednesday's memo If Biden’s aides “secretly” use pens to cover up what he calls decline while taking executive action, “this would constitute an unconstitutional power over the presidency, and this situation has implications for the legitimacy and effectiveness of many executive actions taken in Biden’s name.”

Biden defended his record in a statement Wednesday, believing the investigation was a "distraction" between Trump and Republican lawmakers.

"Let me be clear: I made a decision during my presidency. I made a decision on pardons, executive orders, legislation and declarations. There is no absurd or false advice about me."

Trump has previously claimed that there is no evidence that Biden used an automatic open signing of preemptive pardons from members of Congress, who investigated the incidents surrounding the attacks on January 6, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol, making them "ineffective".

Automatic startup has long been a mechanical tool to copy signatures at the White House, with Barack Obama being the first president to use it to sign legislation.

The previous administration noted that the 2005 Office of Legal Counsel memorandum stated that the president “does not have to personally enforce the bill he approved and decide to sign the bill to make it a bill of law.”

Biden often defends his mental health and memory.

Former special attorney Robert Hur said in a report last year that Biden might have “sympathetic, kind-hearted elderly people with poor memory, kind-hearted elderly people” explaining his decision not to prosecute Biden after an investigation into his handling of confidential documents.

Biden rejected Hur's statement about his memory shortly after the 2024 release of the report, saying, "My memory is good."

In an interview with ABC's "view" in May, Biden once again denied the pain of mental decline while presided over the past.

"They were wrong," he said.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is also investigating Biden and requesting a series of former White House aides to appear in court for transcribed interviews.