WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump directed aides to investigate whether former President Joe Biden’s staff conspired to hide information about his health from the public and enacted any executive actions without his predecessor’s knowledge.

The memorandum, published Wednesday, orders an inquiry by the counsel to the president in consultation with the U.S. attorney general and the heads of any relevant agencies and cites Biden’s use of an autopen to sign documents.

The directive follows months of Trump’s growing critique of autopens, which can be used to affix the president’s signature to scores of documents a leader might not otherwise sign individually.

“Although the authority to take these executive actions, along with many others, is constitutionally committed to the president, there are serious doubts as to the decision making process and even the degree of Biden’s awareness of these actions being taken in his name,” the memorandum says.

Trump’s action orders a review of pardons and sentence commutations, executive orders and presidential memoranda — like the one Trump signed enacting the probe — where “the autopen was used” as well as “who directed that the president’s signature be affixed.”

Separately, it orders the White House counsel to probe any efforts “to purposefully shield the public from information regarding Biden’s mental and physical health” and “any agreements between Biden’s aides to require false, public statements elevating the president’s capabilities.”

Questions about Biden’s age and fitness for office came to a head in 2024 after a disastrous debate performance between the then-president and Trump. Biden later quit the race, under pressure from his Democratic Party, and Trump defeated then-Vice President Kamala Harris in the general election.

“The American public was purposefully shielded from discovering who wielded the executive power, all while Biden’s signature was deployed across thousands of documents to effect radical policy shifts,” Trump’s order alleges.

A Biden spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier Wednesday, Republican House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer expanded his investigation into Biden’s health while in office, sending letters to five of the former president’s aides. Comer asked that they appear before his panel and “provide truthful answers about President Biden’s cognitive state and who was calling the shots.”

The letters were sent to former chief of staff Ron Klain and other onetime advisers Michael Donilon, Anita Dunn, Bruce Reed and Steve Ricchetti.

Biden in May announced that he was suffering from an aggressive form of prostate cancer, spurring new questions about his health while in the White House. Those questions have also been fueled by a book that claims Biden’s health had been deteriorating for years, even before the debate performance.

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(With assistance from John Harney.)

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