Sun May 18 21:30:00 UTC 2025: Okay, here’s a news article summarizing the provided text, focusing on the key claims and concerns raised:
**FOX NEWS EXCLUSIVE: Biden’s Mental Acuity Under Scrutiny After Hur Tape Release; Calls for Garland Prosecution Mount**
**WASHINGTON, D.C.** – The release of audio recordings from former President Joe Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur has ignited a firestorm of controversy, fueling concerns about his mental fitness during his presidency and raising questions about the validity of pardons issued in his final days in office. Critics are now calling for former Attorney General Merrick Garland to face prosecution for allegedly suppressing the tapes and shielding Biden’s apparent cognitive decline from the public.
The audio, obtained and released by Axios nearly a year and a half after the interviews, reportedly captures Biden struggling to remember key details, slurring speech, and experiencing significant pauses. Conservatives are seizing on the recordings as proof that Biden’s mental acuity has sharply declined, rendering him unfit to lead.
At the center of the controversy is the use of an autopen to sign official documents, particularly a series of pardons allegedly issued in the waning days of the Biden administration. These pardons purportedly included blanket protections for controversial figures like Hunter Biden, General Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and members of the January 6th Committee.
Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, told Fox News Digital that he has long questioned the validity of Biden’s pardons, arguing that many lacked specificity and instead offered broad protections for unnamed conduct. He stated the audio confirms what many suspected: that Biden lacked the mental capacity to authorize such actions.
“The recordings demonstrate that Biden was completely out of it, and we already found documents that the Biden White House had changed the transcript, edited it to hide this,” Fitton said on Fox News. “There’s got to be accountability. Garland should be prosecuted by the Attorney General over the contempt he had for Congress to hide this.”
House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY) echoed these concerns, stating that key decisions made in the final days of the Biden presidency, including the use of autopens and blanket pardons, must be thoroughly investigated. “The American people deserve to know who was actually calling the shots in the Biden White House, because it wasn’t Joe Biden,” Comer stated.
Former President Trump also weighed in on Truth Social, calling the situation “a bigger and bigger scandal by the moment” and claiming the pardons signed via autopen are “void.”
The controversy deepens with accusations that Garland intentionally suppressed the recordings, defying Congressional subpoenas and concealing Biden’s alleged mental decline from the public eye. Critics like Fox News host Mark Levin are demanding that Garland testify under oath and be held accountable for his “grotesque abuse of power.”
Ed Martin, who will now lead the Department of Justice’s Weaponization Working Group, added in a media interview earlier this month that he had been investigating Biden’s last-minute pardons.
The Biden administration has not yet responded to requests for comment. The House Oversight Committee has vowed to continue its investigation, promising to bring the truth to light and hold those involved in the alleged cover-up accountable.
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