President Donald Trump declared any pardons signed by former president Joe Biden via autopen are officially “void,” directing his ire very specifically at the House Select Committee behind the investigation of the January 6th protest at the Capitol.
Trump’s comments were posted on his Truth Social media platform in the early hours of Monday morning.
“The ‘Pardons’ that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen,” the President wrote.
“In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them! The necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden.”
It cannot be overstated how serious the autopen scandal during the Biden administration may be. A bombshell story published by the New York Post last week indicates a top aide to the former President “may have made unilateral determinations on what to auto-sign.”
“I think [the aide] was using the autopen as standard and past protocol,” the Post’s source said. “There is no clarity on who actually approved what — POTUS or [the aide].”
Presidents have used autopen signatures for decades, but they are rarely used for significant legislation or declarations. Add the fact that Biden’s cognitive decline was a concern—we now know it was evident to White House insiders “for years” thanks to Jake Tapper’s sudden-onset journalism—and it provided unheard-of power to the person behind the pen.