President Donald Trump has claimed that pardons signed by his predecessor Joe Biden are invalid. His reasoning: They were allegedly signed with an autopen, a signing machine used by the U.S government for decades. Unfortunately for Trump, presidential pardons legally don’t need to be signed at all.
On Monday, Trump declared that several pardons Biden had issued were “VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen” (emphasis original). Previously used by multiple past presidents, autopens are programmable machines with mechanical arms that can automatically write a given signature.
Specifically, Trump’s announcement targeted preemptive pardons Biden had issued to members of the House committee who investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Biden granted these pardons hours before Trump’s inauguration, aiming to shield the House committee members from the incoming president’s retaliation.
Trump had made no secret of his intent to go after those who investigated the attack, previously stating on his social media platform Truth Social that they “should be tried for Fraud and Treason.” Now the president is attempting to eliminate obstacles to doing so, alleging not only that Biden didn’t sign the pardons, but that he was completely unaware that they were even happening.
“Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!” Trump claimed on Truth Social. “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 has not offered any evidence supporting these allegations. When asked by a reporter whether any such evidence exists, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt merely stated, “You’re a reporter, you should find out.” Typically it is the duty of the party making allegations to provide proof of their claims.
Biden released a statement announcing the pardons at the time they were issued. He had also spoken about the possibility of issuing them in prior interviews.
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Did Trump invalidate Biden’s presidential pardons?
Despite Trump’s attempts to invalidate Biden’s pardons, with the president stating on Truth Social that House committee members “are subject to investigation at the highest level,” his declaration doesn’t have any actual legal impact.
Regardless of whether Biden used an autopen to sign the House committee pardons, a signature is not needed to grant a presidential pardon. In fact, there are no “necessary Pardoning Documents” as Trump suggests. Last year, a U.S. court determined that while having a presidential pardon in writing is proof that it occurred, the Constitution does not require them to be written down at all, much less signed. As previously mentioned, Biden’s statements made clear that he had issued the pardons.
Can a U.S. president use an autopen to sign documents?
Credit: The Autopen Company
Even if a signature was required, the use of an autopen does not render a document void. Though the validity of documents signed by an autopen hasn’t been tested in court, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) published an opinion in 2005 stating that it is legal for presidents to sign bills with an autopen. This advice was issued in response to former president George W. Bush’s request for guidance on the matter.
“The President need not personally perform the physical act of affixing his signature to a bill he approves and decides to sign in order for the bill to become law,” wrote the DOJ. “Rather, the President may sign a bill… by directing a subordinate to affix the President’s signature to such a bill, for example by autopen.”
Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to sign a bill into law with an autopen when he extended the Patriot Act in 2011. He subsequently used it several other times to sign bills when unable to put pen to paper in person. Biden also used the autopen to sign at least one bill. If all documents signed using an autopen were found to be invalid, there could be notable consequences far beyond the House committee.
U.S. officials had already used autopens to sign letters for decades, including former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld and former presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Trump himself has admitted to using an autopen, telling reporters on Sunday that “we may use it, as an example, to send some young person a letter because it’s nice.” However, Trump claimed that he hasn’t used the machine to sign documents of consequence.
“To sign pardons and all of the things that [Biden] signed with an autopen is disgraceful,” Trump said, appearing to briefly acknowledge that Biden did in fact sign them.
Trump did concede on Sunday that the validity of Biden’s pardons would be a matter for a court to decide, though the White House has not given any indication that it has filed a legal challenge. Even so, the president seems to have already made up his mind about the issue, regardless of the lack of evidence.
