In a recent post on Truth Social, former President Donald Trump claimed that several pardons issued by President Joe Biden are null and void, asserting that they were signed using an autopen, a device that can replicate a person’s signature. Trump’s remarks raise questions about the validity of Biden’s actions, but they have been met with strong counterarguments from legal experts and fact-checking organizations.
Trump’s allegations specify that these pardons, which were given to various individuals including members of Biden’s inner circle and some family members, are “void, vacant, and of no further force or effect” because they were not signed manually by the president. This assertion was made without providing any evidence, leading to scrutiny from fact-checkers including BBC Verify.
Investigations into Biden’s use of the autopen have revealed that he has, in fact, signed several pardons by hand. Notable instances documented include the forgiveness of non-violent offenders and individuals convicted for marijuana possession in 2022. Visual evidence from both official photographs and White House social media accounts shows Biden in the act of signing these important documents, confirming that he did not solely rely on autopen technology.
Moreover, legal experts consulted by various media outlets argued that there is no existing federal statute that declares signatures made with an autopen as illegitimate. They referenced a 2005 memorandum from the Department of Justice, asserting that a president can authorize a subordinate to sign official documents, including pardons.
Trump’s claims are seemingly influenced by reports from the Oversight Project, connected to the conservative Heritage Foundation, which suggested that all of Biden’s pardons from January 19 were signed with autopen despite the lack of concrete evidence to support this claim. In the past, past presidents, including George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and John F. Kennedy, have utilized autopen for various documentation, indicating its acceptance in presidential procedures.