FILE-President Joe Biden signs an executive order on advancing women’s health research and innovation during a Women’s History Month reception in the East Room of the White House on March 18, 2024. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump claims that former President Joe Biden’s preemptive pardons for members of the House Jan. 6 select committee and others are invalid because he alleges that Biden used an autopen to sign them.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that Biden’s pardons are "Void" and "Vacant."
What is an autopen?
An autopen is a device used to make automatic or remote signatures and has been used by celebrities and other public figures for decades.
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Autopen is used on signing platforms like DocuSign simplifying the process to sign a legal document without having to physically write your signature on a piece of paper.
Trump claims Biden pardons signed with autopen
Why you should care:
President Donald Trump’s claim that former President Joe Biden used an autopen is similar to an argument the Oversight Project, a group that's part of the Heritage Foundation think tank, made alleging that the pardons Biden signed on January 19 were signed with an autopen.
Did Biden use an autopen?
Dig deeper:
Former President Joe Biden has used an autopen before. He used an autopen to sign a Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) funding bill to guarantee that the FAA received the $105 billion authorized to it from a bipartisan Senate bill, Newsweek reported.
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Citing a Justice Department document, USA Today noted that a president "need not personally perform the physical act of affixing his signature to a bill he approves and decides to sign in order for the bill to become law."
"Rather," the Justice Department said in 2005, "the President may sign a bill within the meaning of Article I, Section 7 by directing a subordinate to affix the President’s signature to such a bill, for example by autopen."
Will Trump attempt to remove Biden-era pardons?
Big picture view:
It’s unknown if President Donald Trump will attempt to fully remove former President Joe Biden’s pardons through an executive order, with Newsweek noting that if he does decide to do so, it could end up in court.
Axios spoke with Kimberly Wehle, a University of Baltimore law professor, who told the news outlet that Trump could lose a legal challenge to Biden’s pardons, but the Supreme Court may treat the former president’s preemptive pardons differently than traditional clemency.
Who did Biden pardon?
The backstory:
President Joe Biden granted pre-emptive pardons to the January 6 Committee and Dr. Anthony Fauci, his son, Hunter Biden, General Mark Milley, and Jerry Lundergan on January 19, before Donald Trump took office.
Newsweek reported that Biden said the pardons for Milley, Fauci and the January 6 Committee were in place to protect them from future political retribution that Trump may take against them.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by Axios, Newsweek, the New York Post, NBC News, and Trump’s Truth Social platform. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.