The truth comes out…
Former President Joe Biden has finally broken his silence on the continued speculation of his use of autopen signatures throughout his presidency.
According to a Sunday report by The New York Times, Biden “did not individually approve each name for the categorical pardons that applied to large numbers of people,” but “signed off on the standards he wanted to be used to determine which convicts would qualify for a reduction in sentence.” (RELATED: Biden Defends Autopen Use Amid Growing Concern)
One of Biden’s aides stated that the Bureau of Prisons would provide the administration with new information on inmates eligible for pardons, prompting updates to the list of those scheduled for release. Staff would not run those changes by Biden, according to the aide.
”Rather than ask Mr. Biden to keep signing revised versions, his staff waited and then ran the final version through the autopen, which they saw as a routine procedure, the aide said,” the Times reported.
In his final months in office, Biden issued a series of controversial pardons and clemency actions. He issued clemency to 1,500 people placed in home confinement during the COVID pandemic, pardons for 2,500 drug offenders, and pardons for his son, Hunter Biden, and other family members, as well as for Dr. Anthony Fauci, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, and members of the January 6 Committee. (RELATED: The Autopen Endorsements: Betrayal In The Name Of Trump)
On Biden’s final day as president, he had a meeting with his aides until nearly 10 p.m. to talk about various preemptive pardons, the Times reports. Emails obtained by the Times show that an aide sent a summary draft of the decisions formalized during that meeting to Biden’s Chief of Staff Jeff Zient’s assistant at 10:03 p.m.
The assistant sent the email to Zients and others present in the meeting, requesting approval from Zients and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed at 10:28 p.m., the Times reported. Zients replied all to the email three minutes later, the outlet said.
“I approve the use of the autopen for the execution of all of the following pardons,” Zients said in the email, according to the Times.
Biden did not personally sign any of the pardons or clemency actions he authorized in either December 2024 or January, with the exception of his son’s pardon. For all other cases, his staff used the autopen to finalize the actions.
According to the Times report, Biden made decisions “orally” during staff meetings, and then the actions were carried out by the staff secretary, Stefanie Feldman, who managed Biden’s autopen.
President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have launched investigations into Biden over the use of the autopen.
Biden claimed that he made each one of the clemency decisions.
“I made every single one of those. And — including the categories, when we set this up to begin with. And so — but I understand why Trump would think that, because obviously, I guess, he doesn’t focus much. Anyway, so — yes, I made every decision,” he said.
Last week, Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s former White House physician, repeatedly pleaded the Fifth to multiple questions during a deposition before Congress. (RELATED: Biden’s Doctor Invokes Fifth Amendment Before Lawmakers)
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Biden is like the little kid who got caught and when confronted says, “Did not!” Like that means anything. The use of an Auto Pen requires scrupulous recordkeeping, including a paper trail where the President instructs the use of the Auto Pen, individually names each document he authorizes to be signed this way, and which requires his signature on the authorization. No one has produced such documentation or even claimed it exists, including the staff secretary who testified she was the one ‘authorized’ to use the Auto Pen. According to her testimony, the instructions to use the Auto Pen came from other staff and never Biden himself. Sometimes the instructions were verbal from one of these other ‘inner circle’ staff members. None of this suggests the Auto Pen was used as required by law and longstanding procedures.
This is probably grounds for legal challenge. There is no possible way for him to have read the names and reviewed the cases for grounds for a Presidential pardon.