Trump Claims Biden’s Jan. 6 Pardons Are Invalid Due To Autopen Use

On Monday, President Donald Trump made the unfounded claim that the pre-emptive pardons granted by former President Joe Biden to members of the Jan. 6 committee are invalid because they were signed using an autopen. The now-dissolved committee had investigated the 2021 Capitol attack and Trump’s involvement in the events leading up to it. 

On Jan. 19, just a day before leaving office, Biden issued a “full and unconditional pardon” for any offenses related to the Jan. 6 committee’s work. Among those who also received preemptive pardons were Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired General Mark Milley and several members of the Biden family.

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“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,” Trump claimed in a Truth Social post.

“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 Biden or approved. He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime,” Trump added.

Close aides to Trump have said he often does not write his Truth Social posts. They also said that factors, including the free use of capital letters, can detect his authorship.

On Sunday, while aboard Air Force One, Trump reiterated his autopen accusation, telling reporters: “It’s not my call – that’s for a court to decide – but I’d say those pardons are invalid since I’m certain Biden wasn’t aware they were being issued, and someone must have been using an autopen to authorize them.”

When asked whether executive orders and pardons signed by Biden via autopen are void, Trump said, “I think so. It’s not my decision. That would be up to a court.”

However, nearly two decades ago, the Justice Department said the president can use an autopen to sign legislation, and the Constitution imposes few limits on the president’s pardon power. In 1929, the Justice Department held that “it is wholly for the president to decide” the method by which a pardon is handed down. Last year, a federal appeals court said presidential pardons do not even have to be in writing.

Harry Truman was the first president to use an autopen after World War II, with John F. Kennedy reportedly using it extensively. The White House kept its use a secret until Gerald Ford’s administration revealed it.

In 2011, Barack Obama sparked controversy by signing an extension of the Patriot Act with an autopen, and in 2013, he used it again to sign a crucial financial bill while vacationing in Hawaii.