Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) is blowing the whistle on what he’s calling “a bigger scandal than Watergate”—a covert effort by Biden insiders to govern in his name using a mechanical autopen, possibly without his consent.

At the center of the firestorm is Neera Tanden, the former Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, who confessed under oath to using President Joe Biden’s autopen for over 18 months, even for official actions without directly confirming Biden’s approval.

Tanden made the revelation in closed-door testimony this week before the House Oversight Committee, which is investigating the extent of Biden’s cognitive decline and what many now describe as a shadow presidency run by unelected staffers.

According to The Washington Examiner, Tanden not only admitted she was authorized to use the autopen between October 2021 and May 2023, but also confirmed she had the authority to direct its use without needing Biden’s explicit go-ahead. Her testimony raises alarming constitutional questions about who was really signing executive actions—and whether Biden even knew what was happening under his own name.

Among the questionable moves during that period? The pardoning of six convicted criminals on December 30, 2022, while Biden was vacationing in St. Croix and playing golf. Based on Tanden’s timeline, it was likely she, not Biden, who authorized those pardons.

When asked point-blank if there was a cover-up of Biden’s condition, Tanden replied:

“Absolutely not.”

But Senator Schmitt, Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, isn’t taking her word for it.

“I just took a first-of-its-kind act on the Biden autopen coverup,” he posted on X. “Using my authority as Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, I have submitted a ‘special access request’ to Archivist Marco Rubio to obtain sealed documents. It may blow this whole thing open.”

Schmitt’s request utilizes a provision in the Presidential Records Act, which allows congressional access to classified or unreleased presidential documents when essential to oversight or legislative business.

“Given Biden’s profound mental decline, there are serious questions about the validity of orders signed by autopen in his name,” Schmitt explained.

He added that his document request includes:

• All Biden White House memoranda about autopen procedures
• Records related to autopen use in executive actions, including pardons
• Internal communications about Biden’s “Equal Rights Amendment” declaration
• Any Biden administration discussion of the 25th Amendment

“We can never again allow our country to be run by nameless, faceless staffers,” Schmitt said on Fox Business. “We can never again question who is running the country or if the acts of our President are legitimate. We can never again be ruled by the autopen.”

Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) has already identified five Biden aides at the center of what he calls a coordinated deception campaign to shield the public from the truth about Biden’s deteriorating health.

President Donald J. Trump, now well into his second term, has repeatedly warned that the Biden presidency was little more than a “deep state puppet show,” run by radical operatives and handlers behind the curtain.

With Schmitt’s investigation intensifying and Tanden’s own testimony now on record, that warning may prove more accurate—and more damning—than anyone realized.