Former President Donald Trump has dismissed reports that President Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons for members of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack, calling them “void, vacant, and of no future force or effect.” In a statement on his Truth Social platform, Trump claimed—without evidence—that committee members arranged the pardons without Biden’s knowledge.
At the center of Trump’s allegations is the use of an autopen, a device that mechanically replicates signatures, writes ABC News. He argued that Biden had not personally signed the pardons and was unaware they had been issued. “In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!” Trump insisted.
While autopen technology is commonly used by government officials, including U.S. presidents, there is no confirmation it was used in this case. The White House and the Department of Justice have yet to comment.
Before leaving office in January, President Biden issued preemptive pardons to lawmakers and staff from the January 6 committee, including Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and former Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, as well as U.S. Army General Mark Milley and Dr. Anthony Fauci. Additionally, Biden granted pardons to five of his relatives, including his three siblings, in the final days of his presidency, just before Trump was sworn in.
“Biden’s alleged use of an identical autopen signature was discovered by the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, which announced its findings last week. The conservative think tank argued the last presidency was ‘controlled’ by whomever controlled the autopen instead of the 82-year-old Biden, whose mental health was rapidly declining during his four-year tenure,” noted The National Review.
🚨 Autopen Update 🚨
We analyzed Biden's Jan. 19, 2025 "pardons" for:-Biden Family Members
-Anthony Fauci
-General Milley
-J6 Committee
-Gerald LunderganThey all have the same exact Biden autopen signature https://t.co/jc6mkx37il pic.twitter.com/8VeBDwLNv7
— Oversight Project (@OversightPR) March 11, 2025
Trump has made fun of Biden for his mental decline over the past few years.
In 2024, Special Counsel Robert Hur, appointed by Biden’s own DOJ, called into question the president’s capacities, saying he was “a well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
