Trump: Biden Jan. 6 panel pardons, others ‘void’ because autopen use

President Trump said in a social media post that he believes former President Biden’s last-minute pardons are “void” because he signed them with an autopen.

“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 wrote early Monday on Truth Social.

Just before the inauguration in January, Biden pardoned several of Trump’s political enemies preemptively, including the lawmakers who sat on the House panel that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, rioting at the U.S. Capitol, Biden’s family, Anthony Fauci and Gen. Mark Milley.

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There was much discussion about whether Biden would use the executive action to protect people that could be prosecuted by the incoming Trump administration.

Trump argued Monday in his post that Biden did not sign the papers and “did not know anything about them!”

While courts have largely left the pardoning power up to the president, Trump said those on the House committee should expect to be investigated “at the highest level.”

Aboard Air Force One on Sunday evening, Trump told reporters he thinks Biden’s pardons are null due to the autopen.

“It’s not my decision; that’ll be up to a court,” he said.

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His remarks come after a report from an arm of the Heritage Foundation argued Biden used the autopen to sign the pardons before leaving office.

While a president has the authority to pardon individuals, according to the U.S. Constitution, no subsequent president can rescind them for any reason.

A George W. Bush-era memorandum opinion from the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel said a president can sign a bill by directing a subordinate to “affix the President’s signature to it.”

It’s not confirmed by the Biden administration whether the former president did use an autopen for the pardons, but CNN legal analyst Elie Honig noted early Monday that autopens have been used as a signing device by presidents for decades.

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NewsNation contributed to this report, which was updated at 10:30 a.m. EDT

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