A close aide to one of the longest-serving U.S. Senate Democrats openly bragged about operating the office autopen without explicit authorization, and in some cases, appeared to forge ahead with the signing of letters, declarations, and possibly even legislation without informing his boss.
The admission by Jordan Jefferson, a staffer in the Washington, D.C. office of Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), was made on an undercover video that abuse of the autopen is a “get-out-of-jail free card” when the Massachusetts Democrat is challenged about whether his signature is authentic. Jefferson unknowingly told a reporter with the O’Keefe Media Group that “some people don’t ask” before signing Markey’s name.
OMG’s investigation also revealed comments made by Jefferson regarding his behavior around Senator Markey. In the same conversation, Jefferson admitted to driving the senator home while under the influence.
“I was f***ed up,” he says, laughing. “He didn’t know.”
James O’Keefe, the founder of Project Veritas, cited Markey’s 2024 criticism of Tesla, stating that its Autopilot feature “endangers” the public, suggesting that Markey’s allowing his staff unfettered access to sign his name is hypocritical.
In the clip, Jefferson states, “The signature is like–”
“Not that big a deal?” the reporter asks.
“No,” he replies.
Asked if he always gets explicit permission from Markey to sign his name, Jefferson responds that he’s “never heard anybody ask ‘can I use the autopen?’”
“It’s easy to blame your staff,” Jefferson says when controversies emerge about the autopen, “because nobody knows who they are.”
“Even if you did sign it, be like, ‘oh, I didn’t know my staff did it,’” Jefferson jokes.
Elsewhere in the eight-minute clip, Jefferson describes Markey’s wife as a Karen who is scared of him because he’s black.
“His wife is, kind of, I’m telling you this personally, she’s kind of like a Karen,” he admits.
“But Karens are scared of black n****s,” he says to the female reporter with a smile.
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The E-Sign Act, passed by Congress in 2000, mandates that lawmakers’ autopen signatures are “only valid if the signer intended to sign,” O’Keefe notes.
Mike Howell, president of the watchdog group Oversight Project, said Markey’s office may be running afoul of the law if staffers are affixing his signature to documents without Markey’s knowledge.
“Autopen is used prolifically on Capitol Hill, and it’s a shame,” Howell said, “and it really speaks to the deterioration of the legislative branch over time.
“Where this case will turn on potential criminal activity is whether the staffers were utilizing the autopen without the direction and autopen of the senator.”
Former President Joe Biden was infamously ensnared in his own autopen scandal, which remains the subject of a congressional investigation exploring whether any of the last-minute pardons signed with Biden’s name may be invalidated due to his lack of knowledge.
