President Donald Trump likely just ignited a massive new constitutional challenge after declaring early Monday morning that former President Joe Biden’s last-minute “autopen” pardons of hundreds of people were “null and void.” Trump took to his Truth Social platform to make his announcement, which will no doubt drive his detractors — and Democrats — crazy.
“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, or approved by, Biden. He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime,” Trump added.
The president continued in his post, “Therefore, those on the Unselect Committee, who destroyed and deleted ALL evidence obtained during their two year Witch Hunt of me, and many other innocent people, should fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level. The fact is, they were probably responsible for the Documents that were signed on their behalf without the knowledge or consent of the Worst President in the History of our Country, Crooked Joe Biden!”
Trump was asked about whether he believes Biden’s pardons are void Sunday evening aboard Air Force One. “I think so. It’s not my decision. That would be up to a court,” Trump replied. Trump’s remarks follow the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, which suggested that an autopen had been extensively used during Biden’s time in the White House.
“We gathered every document we could find with Biden’s signature over the course of his presidency. All used the same autopen signature except for the announcement that the former President was dropping out of the race last year. Here is the autopen signature,” the Oversight Project declared in a post on X earlier this month. In a statement on Jan. 20, the same day he departed from office, Biden announced that he was pardoning “General Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the Members of Congress and staff who served on the Select Committee, and the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee.”
“These public servants have served our nation with honor and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions,” he noted. In addition to the Heritage Foundation, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is also pressing the Justice Department to investigate the use of the autopen during Biden’s last weeks in office, asserting that the Constitution may have been violated.
