President Donald Trump declared any pardons signed by former president Joe Biden via autopen are officially “void,” directing his ire very specifically at the House Select Committee behind the investigation of the January 6th protest at the Capitol.
Trump’s comments were posted on his Truth Social media platform in the early hours of Monday morning.
“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,” the President wrote.
“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, or approved by, Biden.”
President Trump has said the pardons issued in President Biden’s final day are void due to auto-pen signings. He’s aiming for the J6 committee. pic.twitter.com/agKO81SNMV
— COL Conrad Reynolds (@ColonelReynolds) March 17, 2025
It cannot be overstated how serious the autopen scandal during the Biden administration may be. A bombshell story published by the New York Post last week indicates a top aide to the former President “may have made unilateral determinations on what to auto-sign.”
“I think [the aide] was using the autopen as standard and past protocol,” the Post’s source said. “There is no clarity on who actually approved what — POTUS or [the aide].”
Presidents have used autopen signatures for decades, but they are rarely used for significant legislation or declarations. Add the fact that Biden’s cognitive decline was a concern—we now know it was evident to White House insiders “for years” thanks to Jake Tapper’s sudden-onset journalism—and it provided unheard-of power to the person behind the pen.
Or, as the Post’s informant stated, that aide “basically was the president.”
The Plot Thickens on the Scandal Over Who May Have Been Using Biden’s Autopen
Is the Pardon Attorney’s Dismissal Sign of an Investigation Into Biden’s Last-Minute Pardons?
According to President Trump, the person behind the autopen signatures may have been committing an illegal act or acts.
“[Biden] knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime,” he wrote.
As such, Trump declared that those given pardons, including members of the House Select Committee regarding January 6th and several others, were now subject to “investigation at the highest level.”
The pardons he references include the J6 committee members, key among them being former members of Congress Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA). They also encompass other controversial figures such as Dr. Anthony Fauci and General Mark Milley.
There is a political group that does not believe in signature verification for mail-in election ballots.
Unsurprisingly, that same group is fine with one or more aides of Biden controlling an autopen of Biden’s signature, despite Biden clearly having been senile for all or most… pic.twitter.com/yUXyl3LhKV
— Jeff Clark (@JeffClarkUS) March 15, 2025
Schiff, Cheney, and Kinzinger played a key role on the House Select Committee, which used specious evidence to create a false media narrative about insurrection and ultimately led to jail time for multiple Trump associates who refused to cooperate with the circus.
Fauci became a lightning rod for criticism during the COVID-19 crisis and, according to critics, perjured himself in congressional testimony regarding statements on gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Milley, meanwhile, somehow escaped being court-martialed when it was revealed he was willing to warn China if an attack was in the works.
All of these individuals were preemptively pardoned in the waning hours of Biden’s presidency, and it seems highly unlikely that he signed those documents personally or was even aware they were being issued.
It’s difficult to say whether Trump’s declaration that these pardons are “void ” has any legal heft, though it’s clear he would like a thorough investigation into the matter. It’s going to be a difficult mess to untangle.
The key issue with Biden’s pardons—if signed by autopen—hinges on whether he personally authorized them. If evidence emerges that Biden was unaware of or did not approve the pardons due to cognitive decline or staff overreach, then their legality could almost certainly be challenged in court.
Additionally, it’s unclear the legality of sweeping, blanket preemptive pardons in the first place.
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