President Trump declared early Monday that Joe Biden’s pardons for members of the House select committee that investigated Jan. 6, 2021, and many others, are invalid because they were signed using an autopen rather than a real pen.
“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 on Truth Social.
He further alleged that Biden was unaware of or did not approve the pardons, claiming that all committee members would now be “subject to investigation at the highest level.”
Trump’s remarks appeared to be prompted by the Oversight Project, a conservative group tied to the Heritage Foundation, which recently questioned whether Biden had the “mental capacity” to authorize the autopen after identical signatures were found on multiple pardons.
It remains unclear what legal steps Trump plans to take to challenge Biden’s orders or whether he intends to initiate an investigation into the committee members. The White House and Biden’s representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Biden issued the preemptive pardons in January as one of his final acts in office, saying they were necessary to prevent retaliation against public officials who had investigated and criticized Trump.
Among those pardoned were Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., former Reps. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., Elaine Luria, D-Va., and Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., as well as current Reps. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. Former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley and Dr. Anthony Fauci also received pardons.
Biden was a prolific issuer of pardons in his final days, setting a record for presidential clemency by commuting nearly 2,500 sentences, including more than 2,000 for nonviolent drug offenses.
