Oversight Project over target: Dems seethe as facade of autopen presidency comes crashing down



Democratic lawmakers walked out of a Senate hearing Wednesday on former President Joe Biden's cognitive decline, its cover-up, and its alleged exploitation behind the scenes.

The Republican lawmakers who remained at their posts were rewarded with troubling insights into the fallout of both the cover-up and America's apparent governance in recent years by an unelected cabal of ideologues.

One of the more troubling revelations to come out of the hearing was that in addition to the executive orders, commutations, and pardons issued with Biden's name affixed in recent years, many of the laws passed by Congress may similarly be illegitimate.

The Oversight Project, a government watchdog, revealed in early March that Biden's signature on numerous pardons, commutations, executive orders, and other documents of national consequence was machine-generated.

Biden was not the first president to employ the autopen; however, there is cause to suspect that unelected individuals in Biden's orbit abused the autopen throughout his presidency, particularly toward the end, to advance their radical agendas.

In effect, there appears to have been a shadow presidency — what President Donald Trump suggested to Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck in October was a "committee" of unnamed bureaucrats — whose impact has yet to fully be understood.

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Photo by Evan Vucci-Pool/Getty Images

Multiple investigations have been launched into the alleged autopen abuse in the wake of the Oversight Project's damning discoveries and amid mounting evidence of staffers, family members, and other "gatekeepers" having made decisions on Biden's behalf.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on "how the Biden cover-up endangered America and undermined the Constitution," seeking greater clarity both on how Democrats and the media did their best to conceal Biden's cognitive decline from the public and on how his decline was exploited behind the scenes.

Democratic lawmakers on the committee, some of whom helped gaslight the nation about Biden's mental acuity in recent years, refused to hear testimony from former deputy assistant to President Donald Trump and former Idaho Solicitor General Theodore Wold, former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, and University of Virginia law professor John Harrison — and boycotted the hearing.

'They lied to us for four years, and we know they lied. They know they lied.'

Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin (Ill.) and Peter Welch (Vt.) did, however, show up at the outset to protest their colleagues' closer look into the apparent conspiracy to keep Biden in office and his autopen signature viable.

Before leaving the room, Welch complained that Congress could instead be discussing climate change, health care, the possible war with Iran, and America's debt. He stressed, "What we're doing right now won't help."

Durbin noted on X, "This partisan farce of a hearing is a waste of our time and resources."

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Photo by ALEX WROBLEWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Contrary to the Democrats' suggestion that the hearing was a useless exercise, Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project, suggested to Blaze News that it is critically important now, even though Biden is no longer president, to seek accountability and answers.

"The autopen administration brought great shame on the United States and was an international embarrassment," said Howell. "The United States must live by the most basic contours of its own Constitution if it is to project power and credibility. If we, as a nation, can't tell the world who was running the White House for four years, then we have more than a 'threat to democracy.'"

After highlighting Democratic denial of Biden's decline over the course of his presidency, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley (R) pointed to Democratic senators' empty seats and asked, "Where are they now? They don't want to answer for any of those quotes now. They lied to us for four years, and we know they lied. They know they lied. It's why they're not here."

Wold, a board member of the Oversight Project, noted in his testimony that the "U.S. Constitution vests the executive power in a single person: the president" and underscored that despite the overgrowth of the executive branch since the nation's founding, the president remains "the single source of democratic legitimacy."

'Over half — 32 in total — were signed with an autopen.'

"The president takes positive actions and authenticates those actions through his signature. His signature is required for the most significant actions he may undertake: to sign an executive order, to take any action vested in him by the Constitution, as in granting a pardon, and to take the most important action of all: to sign a bill into law," said Wold. "In all these cases, the president's signature is itself the protection of democratic principles. When the president signs, he communicates his assent and endorsement of the action he takes."

Wold suggested that the risk of divorcing the president's signature from his legitimate assent and endorsement was realized during the Biden years, particularly when clemency warrants and executive orders were signed during his physical and apparent mental absences.

"In June 2022, the Biden White House began deploying the autopen to sign clemency warrants, and executive orders in July of 2022. Autopen use skyrocketed from there," said Wold. "We found that of the 51 clemency warrants issued during the Biden presidency, over half — 32 in total — were signed with an autopen."

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Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

The former Idaho solicitor general noted that among the more controversial acts of possibly illegitimate clemency were the pardons for members of the Biden family, Anthony Fauci, and General Mark Milley.

'We need to get those documents.'

Wold later emphasized that the "president actually has to make the decision — that cannot be delegated to a staffer or an adviser," but there was no indication "that anyone other than staff were making these decisions."

— (@)

While much has been made of the questionable legitimacy of Biden's more controversial pardons, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) cut deeper, asking Wold whether legislation that passed both chambers of Congress but then was signed by a presidential staffer without the president's authorization is law.

"No," said Wold.

— (@)

Hawley noted, "For every time that Biden authorized the autopen, there should be a record of that."

Wold confirmed that "in the policy paper flow to the Oval Office, there should be a record of what documents are presented to the president, when, and when he gave his assent to the actions that are listed in those documents, whether it's a judicial nomination or it's a statutory response to Congress."

"We need to get those documents," responded Hawley.

'Those who received autopen pardons should be charged for the crimes they were pardoned for.'

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) — who concluded Biden's was the "autopen presidency, a government run by committee rather than a leader chosen by the American people" — indicated that he will be "pursuing a Special Access Request to obtain Biden's staff secretary's autopen memo and records tracking Biden's authorization of several autopenned documents."

Howell told Blaze News that the Oversight Project has "produced lists of which documents were signed by the autopen. As to 'who' is behind them, we have been communicating our findings to the governmental investigative bodies."

When asked about the Oversight Project's next steps where the autopen saga is concerned, Howell told Blaze News, "We have no steps planned. We have gallops planned. Stay tuned."

In terms of what accountability looks like at this stage — especially after President Donald Trump declared last month on Truth Social that those who exploited Biden's cognitive impairment and allegedly "took over the Autopen" were guilty of "TREASON at the Highest Level" — Wold told Blaze News, "Those who received autopen pardons should be charged for the crimes they were pardoned for. Those who operated the autopen without the direction of the president should be charged with potential crimes ranging from impersonation of an official to forgery."

Wold noted further that when congressional lawmakers meet later this month to discuss the matter further, they should consider "whether the 25th Amendment needs to be updated given the unexpected event of those responsible for invoking it deciding that they preferred an incapacitated president."

Blaze News reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Mike Howell is a contributor to Blaze News.

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Headhunter federal prosecutors ruined my family to chase a fake win



Headline after headline has slammed President Donald Trump’s recent wave of pardons, claiming they prove America now operates under a two-tiered justice system. But the outrage is manufactured. These critics want you to forget that Trump was a target of the very system they now accuse him of controlling.

With these pardons, Trump isn’t abusing the justice system — he’s beginning to dismantle the weaponized bureaucracy within it. For years, a corrupt faction inside the Department of Justice has twisted its constitutional mandate to serve the personal and political agendas of activist attorneys and the operatives who influence them. Trump’s actions mark the start of holding that faction accountable.

Government lawyers and law enforcement officials have abused their power for personal ambition and gain. They don’t want the truth. They want trophies.

Don’t take Trump’s word for it. Or mine. Critics across the political spectrum have warned for decades about the potential for the weaponization of criminal law by overzealous prosecutors.

President Bill Clinton told the ladies of “The View” that former FBI Director James Comey used his power and “outside influence” to sway the outcome of the 2016 election.

Two-time Attorney General Bill Barr has warned that prosecutors often turn into “headhunters,” obsessed with taking down targets at any cost. That mindset, he said, leads the Justice Department away from its duty to administer justice fairly and according to clear, consistent legal standards.

Joe Biden himself allowed that his Justice Department “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted” individuals — choosing targets based on improper criteria and engaging in “selective prosecution.” He was referring, of course, to the federal case against his son Hunter.

This problem goes far beyond politics. Law enforcement, once politicized, can be turned against anyone. Prosecutors armed with the full force of the federal government can destroy individuals, families, businesses, and entire communities.

As Barr put it, the mere act of launching an investigation can be devastating: “People facing federal investigations incur ruinous legal costs and often see their lives reduced to rubble before a charge is even filed.”

Once you understand how the game works, turning your political or corporate rivals into criminal targets becomes easy.

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LIgorko via iStock/Getty Images

In my family’s case, Amazon executives hired a former federal prosecutor to pressure his former colleagues at the Justice Department to go after my husband, a former Amazon employee. Their goal: bring federal charges over an obscure “process” crime — violating internal Amazon employment terms.

The Justice Department never filed charges. The investigation eventually closed. But for four excruciating years, prosecutors used civil forfeiture laws to seize every dollar in our bank accounts. FBI agents raided our home while our babies crawled on the floor in diapers. Prosecutors threatened our family members with criminal charges in a scheme to force my husband into pleading guilty to a lie.

We sold our house. We lost our jobs. We spent years in court just to “prove” what was always true: My husband had complied with his employment contract.

The Chrisley family knows this drill, too. After President Trump pardoned Todd Chrisley, his daughter, Savannah, revealed that law enforcement explicitly wrote that they needed a “big fish” — and the Chrisleys were the “biggest fish” in Atlanta. For many prosecutors, a high-profile conviction is just a stepping stone to a cushy law firm job and a seven-figure salary.

My family made it through. So did the Chrisleys. But plenty of Americans are still “in the hunt,” as prosecutors like to say.

Greg Lindberg is one of them. A self-made entrepreneur, Lindberg built a network of insurance companies that employed more than 7,000 people. His mistake? Supporting the wrong candidate for North Carolina insurance commissioner. After the election, the winning candidate got to work, with help from the FBI and Justice Department, setting a trap that would ensnare Lindberg in a manufactured bribery scheme.

Prosecutors took the Lindberg case to court on charges built on lies. As Barr warned, they became obsessed with “getting their guy.” Even after the Fourth Circuit vacated the bogus conviction, the U.S. attorney refused to back down. He threatened Lindberg with new charges and a staggering 540-month sentence, knowing Lindberg was financially drained and couldn’t afford to fight.

This wasn’t just a campaign to destroy one man. The fallout has devastated thousands of families across North Carolina. Lindberg’s insurance companies, once solvent, are now failing. People are out of work. Why? Because the same commissioner who targeted Lindberg handed control to a group of handpicked receivers — politically connected insiders with no accountability.

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Photo by DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Those receivers didn’t just take over Lindberg’s insurance businesses. They seized more than 100 companies. They’ve collected tens of millions in fees while leaving policyholders in limbo and small businesses without payouts. The result? Lost jobs, ruined livelihoods, and a crisis that didn’t begin with Greg Lindberg — it began with the government.

Lindberg is still fighting to clear his name. So are others.

Decorated NYPD veteran and 9/11 hero Michael McMahon now faces prison on the bizarre charge that he spied for China — for $5,000. Trail runner Michael Sunseri could spend six months in jail for breaking a speed record in Grand Teton National Park, on a trail thousands have used before — except the government says it was “off-limits” in his case.

How is this justice?

Government lawyers and law enforcement officials have abused their power for personal ambition and gain. They don’t want the truth. They want trophies. And until that changes, President Trump should keep using his pardon power boldly, unapologetically, and often.

Because the real two-tiered justice system isn’t a myth. It’s the scoreboard — and it’s long past time to even it.

California’s budget trick is leaving poor patients to die



California politicians love to brag. GDP near $4 trillion. “Fourth-largest economy in the world.” Progressive pundits cite those numbers as proof that big government works.

But behind the glossy stats sits a system bloated with grift, distortion, and federal abuse. Nowhere does that dysfunction show more clearly than in California’s shell game with Medicaid reimbursements — a sleight of hand known as intergovernmental transfers, or IGTs.

Any private-sector CEO who ran a company like this would face prosecution. In Sacramento, these people get re-elected.

At first glance, IGTs look benign. Counties, fire districts, and public ambulance providers send money to California’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal. The state then uses those funds to draw matching federal dollars.

In theory, it’s a cost-sharing mechanism to support care for low-income patients.

In practice, California weaponizes IGTs as a legalized money-laundering scheme. The state punishes private providers, guts rural health care, props up political patrons, and hides it all behind the banner of equity.

Here’s how the racket works: Private ambulance companies get stuck with the standard Medicaid reimbursement rate — $118 per ground transport. Public agencies, including fire departments and county EMS units, receive up to $1,400 per run. Same patient. Same service. Ten times the payout.

This isn’t health care policy. It’s a rigged system.

Private ambulance companies can’t compete. Most operate at a loss in low-income and rural regions. Once they go under, they don’t get replaced. The 911 calls still come — but the ambulances come slower. Or not at all.

And in emergencies, minutes cost lives.

California’s IGT scheme isn’t just a technical policy failure. It’s a public safety crisis disguised as social justice.

The people paying the highest price are the working poor — the same communities Sacramento claims to champion. These residents live in neighborhoods left uncovered. They suffer delayed response times. They watch public-sector unions cash in while their own emergency care collapses.

Meanwhile, the state expands Medicaid to undocumented immigrants — ignoring federal guidelines — while using IGTs to balance the budget. These patients can’t legally receive full Medicaid benefits, but California finds the loopholes. State officials cook the books to collect federal money anyway.

It’s a violation of the law. No one stops it.

Sacramento calls this fiscal ingenuity. Washington looks the other way. In truth, it’s federal fraud.

The cash goes to public agencies, which funnel it into inflated salaries, no-show contracts, and political favors. Rural ambulance crews shut down. Small hospitals cut staff. And working-class Californians wait longer to get help they used to take for granted.

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Blaze Media illustration

Any private-sector CEO who ran a company like this would face prosecution. In Sacramento, these people get re-elected.

This isn’t bureaucratic inertia. It’s engineered corruption. California’s 2024 and 2025 State Plan Amendments codify this scheme in black and white. They grant preferential reimbursement to government providers while sidelining the private sector completely.

That’s not policy. It’s pay-to-play.

And it’s working exactly as intended: Drive out private actors, centralize control, and soak the federal treasury while calling it compassion.

The fix is simple. Enforce federal Medicaid law. End special treatment for public agencies. Level the field so private ambulance companies — especially in rural areas — can survive.

Without reform, the collapse continues. The IGT scam rewards states for padding GDP with fake Medicaid spending. It rewards failure. It punishes success. And it leaves real people — sick people, poor people — waiting for ambulances that never come.

California can keep calling itself the world’s fourth-largest economy. But those numbers mean nothing when the foundation is rotten.

The ambulance isn’t coming. The budget is built on lies. And Gavin Newsom is on television doing Baghdad Bob impressions while the system falls apart.

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Church, 20 people charged in $60M Medicaid scam stealing from taxpayers and exploiting vulnerable



While hardworking Americans continue to pay into the Medicaid system, intended to help those in need, oversight failures have left it vulnerable to scammers.

On Tuesday, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced 22 new indictments relating to a sober living home fraud case.

'This invites fraudsters and criminals to take bigger and bigger chunks out of an ever-expanding pie.'

The AG’s investigation accused Happy House Behavioral Health LLC of receiving taxpayer funds for services it either never provided or only partially delivered. Additionally, the company allegedly billed for services for clients who were deceased and incarcerated.

According to the indictment, Happy House Behavioral Health received more than $60 million from the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System. The company allegedly violated state law by using the funds to pay directly for sober living homes for clients.

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Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

Happy House Behavioral Health faces multiple charges, including conspiracy, fraudulent schemes and artifices, client referral fraud, money laundering, theft, and forgery.

A church and 20 individuals are also facing felony charges related to the alleged scam.

In July 2023, Happy House Behavioral Health allegedly paid $5 million to Hope of Life International Church. The house of worship was accused of later wiring $2 million to an entity based in Rwanda.

The charges are part of a larger investigative effort to address a $2.8 billion fraud scheme that exploited the state’s Medicaid system as part of a broader “sober living crisis.” More than 100 individuals have been indicted in connection to the scam.

The Associated Press reported that the massive scam has disproportionately impacted Arizona's Native American population, resulting in an unknown number falling victim to fraudulent sober living homes and becoming homeless after funding was pulled from the unlicensed facilities.

Hayden Dublois, a data and analytics director with the Foundation for Government Accountability, told Blaze News, “Waste, fraud, and abuse are rampant in the Medicaid program, and this latest case is a classic example of the types of coordinated, criminal efforts to defraud states and federal taxpayers.”

Hope of Life International Church denied the accusations in a statement to the AP. It claimed that it accepted donations from a licensed sober living facility that was a tenant of the church. The AP reported that the church further contended that it did not control the facility’s operations, financial practices, or management decisions.

“The church’s only relationship was that of a landlord and, later, as a recipient of a donation — a donation accepted in good faith, consistent with its mission and longstanding practice,” the church stated.

Happy House Behavioral Health did not respond to a request for comment from the AP.

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Photo by: Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Dublois told Blaze News, “This case is shocking enough, but the scale of the problem is even more alarming: The Medicaid program is on track to surpass $2 trillion in improper payments over the next decade.”

“This $2 trillion problem, much of which is fraud by design, encourages state and federal bureaucrats to check less, approve more, and grow the programs as fast as possible,” Dublois continued. “This invites fraudsters and criminals to take bigger and bigger chunks out of an ever-expanding pie. More frequent eligibility checks, work requirements, and repealing bad Biden-era policies would go a long way toward reducing the rampant fraud we know is still occurring.”

Dublois noted that Congress plans to address some of these issues in the one “big, beautiful bill.”

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USAID program contractor defrauds taxpayers of $100,000 in latest agency scandal



A former contractor with a program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development admitted to defrauding taxpayers of nearly $100,000, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

On Monday, Stephen Paul Edmund Sutton, a 53-year-old United Kingdom citizen, pleaded guilty to participating in a fraudulent kickback scheme from May through November 2015.

'This is why shutting down USAID is such a good policy.'

Sutton, employed through a contracting firm, previously worked as a logistics operations manager on a power distribution program in Pakistan that USAID funded.

The program, launched in September 2010, aimed to support Pakistan's energy sector by facilitating improvements to the country's "government-owned electric power distribution companies."

The U.S. Attorney's Office explained, "The main goal of the PDP was to improve the commercial performance of the participating distribution companies through technology upgrades and improvements in processes, procedures, and practices, as well as training and capacity building. Under the PDP contract, Sutton's employer subcontracted through purchase orders with vendors in Pakistan for certain goods and services."

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Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

While employed, Sutton received "kickbacks of USAID funds used to pay for the services rendered."

After battling extradition for over two years, he pleaded guilty on Monday to "one count of conspiracy to commit theft concerning a program receiving federal funds."

Sutton was sentenced to time served and turned over to federal immigration authorities.

Sutton's supervisor also allegedly participated in the scheme. They apparently created two companies to obtain purchase orders for equipment. However, they reportedly distributed the profits to themselves by hiring "low-grade local vendors" to perform the work at a fraction of the contract rates.

"U.S. government sentencing documents indicate the agency was defrauded of almost $100,000 and that for his part, Sutton received at least $21,000 in kickbacks," the U.S. Attorney's Office stated. "Sutton's co-conspirator is also charged by indictment, and his case is pending disposition."

A State Department spokesperson told Blaze News, "This recent legal victory in federal court delivers much-needed accountability on an individual who conspired to steal tens of thousands of dollars from American taxpayers and divert resources away from lifesaving assistance."

"It is also just another reason why ensuring foreign aid contracts have proper oversight under the State Department is crucial to the future of how America administers aid," the spokesperson added.

USAID waste

Since President Donald Trump began his second term, USAID has been heavily scrutinized for its wasteful spending and vulnerability to fraudulent activity.

The Department of Government Efficiency previously uncovered millions of dollars in wasteful spending on propaganda, climate hysteria, LGBT advocacy, and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

As a result, the Trump administration has pushed to significantly restructure USAID, including moving it under the domain of the Department of State and eliminating most of its programs.

Oversight Project President Mike Howell told Blaze News, "A great way to prevent fraud and abuse in government spending is to throw less money around third-world countries that passes through the hands of contractors and other entities. The idea that we can ever competently and safely spend money in those regions without it being siphoned off is lunacy. This is why shutting down USAID is such a good policy."

Editor's note: Mike Howell is a contributor to Blaze News.

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