Former U.S. President Donald Trump declared on Monday that current President Joe Biden recently pardoned members and staff of the congressional "January 6th Capitol Riot" investigation committee, but these pardons are invalid because Biden used an autopen instead of a handwritten signature.
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03-26, 2025Trump wrote on his social media platform, "In other words, Joe Biden did not personally sign these pardons, and more importantly, he knew nothing about them!" Trump did not provide any evidence to support his claim, and the White House has not commented on the matter.
In his post, Trump emphasized in all capital letters that he believes these pardons are invalid and have no effect. However, the president has broad powers to pardon or commute sentences, and the Constitution does not explicitly require pardons to be in writing, and autopens have been previously used by presidents for actions of substantive significance.
When asked if White House lawyers had informed Trump that he had the right to revoke pardons signed by autopen, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "The point the president is making is, did the president know about these pardons? Was his legal signature used without his consent or knowledge? These questions have been raised not just by the president or myself."
She further cited a recent report in the New York Post, which quoted two unnamed Biden White House aides who speculated that there may have been misuse of the autopen during Biden's tenure. When pressed for evidence that Biden was unaware of the pardons, Leavitt told reporters at a daily briefing, "You are the reporters, you should find out."
