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2mo ago

Trump’s Bid to Void Biden Pardons Over Autopen Faces Legal Rejection

Legal experts dismiss Trump’s claim that Biden’s final-hour pardons are invalid, emphasizing the constitutionality of autopen use and presidential clemency powers.

Image
Damilic Corp. president Bob Olding anchors a sheet of paper as the Atlantic Plus, the Signascript tabletop model autopen, produces a signature at their Rockville, Md., office, June 13, 2011. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
President Donald Trump gestures while speaking at the Justice Department March 14, 2025 in Washington, DC.
A demonstration of an old model autopen in 2011.

Overview

  • Donald Trump declared Joe Biden’s last-minute pardons void, claiming they were signed using an autopen without Biden’s awareness.
  • Biden’s pardons included family members, Dr. Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley, and January 6 Committee members, aimed at shielding them from potential prosecutions.
  • Legal experts widely affirm that autopen signatures are constitutionally valid for presidential actions, including pardons, citing decades of precedent.
  • The U.S. Constitution grants presidents broad and final clemency powers, with no provision for a successor to overturn pardons.
  • Trump suggested the courts should decide the validity of the pardons, but legal scholars deem his arguments baseless and unlikely to succeed.