Former President Joe Biden defended his use of an autopen in a recent interview. He explained his administration’s reasons for using this technology, which has sparked controversy.
The interview with the New York Times focused on his use of an autopen for the last pardons he issued at the end of his time in office.
In his final weeks as president, Biden granted clemency and pardons to more than 1,500 people. The White House called it the largest single-day act of clemency by any U.S. president. Speaking to the Times on Thursday, Biden said that he “made every decision” on his own.
“We’re talking about [granting clemency to] a whole lot of people,” the Democrat said.
However, the Times reported that Biden “did not individually approve each name for the categorical pardons that applied to large numbers of people,” according to the former president and his aides.
“Rather, after extensive discussion of different possible criteria, [Biden] signed off on the standards he wanted to be used to determine which convicts would qualify for a reduction in sentence,” the Times’s report read.