Trump: Biden Jan. 6 panel pardons, others ‘void’ because Autopen used

President Trump said in a social media post that he believes former President Biden’s last-minute pardons are “void” because he signed them with an autopen.

“The ‘pardons’ that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen,” Trump wrote early Monday on Truth Social.

Just before the inauguration in January, Biden pardoned several of Trump’s political enemies preemptively, including the lawmakers who sat on the House panel that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, rioting at the U.S. Capitol, Biden's family, Anthony Fauci and Gen. Mark Milley.

There was much discussion about whether Biden would use the executive action to protect people that could be prosecuted by the incoming Trump administration.

Trump argued Monday in his post that Biden did not sign the papers and “did not know anything about them!”

While courts have largely left the pardoning power up to the president, Trump said those on the House committee should expect to be investigated “at the highest level.”

Aboard Air Force One on Sunday evening, Trump told reporters he thinks Biden’s pardons are null due to the autopen.

“It’s not my decision; that’ll be up to a court,” he said.

His remarks come after a report from an arm of the Heritage Foundation argued Biden used the autopen to sign the pardons before leaving office.

While a president has the authority to pardon individuals, according to the U.S. Constitution, no subsequent president can rescind them for any reason.

It's not confirmed by the Biden administration whether the former president did use an autopen, but CNN legal analyst Elie Honig noted early Monday that autopens have been used as a signing device by presidents for decades.

Updated at 9:35 a.m. EDT

Topics

Trump claims Biden's pardons for Jan. 6 committee are 'void' because he used an autopen

President Donald Trump claimed without evidence early Monday that his predecessor’s pardons for members of the House select committee that investigated the Jan.
NBC News - 3h
Trump makes unsupported claim Biden pardons are ‘void’ as he used autopen

President claims without evidence that January 6 panel members’ pre-emptive clemency was not signed personally. Donald Trump claimed on Monday, without offering evidence, that pardons signed by ...
The Guardian - 1h
Trump claims Biden pardons for Jan. 6 committee 'void, vacant'

President Donald Trump claimed that former President Joe Biden's pardons of members of the committee and others were "void, vacant, and of no future force of effect."
ABC News - 5h
Trump claims Biden's pardons of Jan. 6 committee members are "void"

President Trump is questioning former President Joe Biden's signature on preemptive pardons issued to the members of the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the ...
CBS News - 1h
Trump to meet with Kennedy Center board after purge

President Donald Trump said former President Joe Biden's preemptive pardons of members of the Jan. 6 committee are "void" because he signed them by autopen.
NBC News - 4h
Trump's Jan. 6 pardon doesn't cover rioter's plot to kill FBI agents, judge rules

President Donald Trump’s sweeping pardon of participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot does not extend to the separate crimes of one rioter who plotted to murder the law enforcement agents who ...
NBC News - 6d
'God used Donald Trump to save me': Ex-Tenn. senator gets pardon 15 days after entering prison

The pardon by Trump came after the top pardon attorney at the DOJ said she had been fired after restoring the gun rights of actor Mel Gibson.
CNBC - 4d
Trump rails against prosecutions, touts Jan. 6 hostages in visit to DOJ

President Donald Trump is set to visit the Justice Department on Friday.
ABC News - 2d
Former lawmaker says Trump pardoned him 2 weeks into campaign finance scheme sentence

President Trump pardoned a former Tennessee Republican lawmaker who was two weeks into his 21-month prison sentence for a campaign finance scheme. Former state Sen. Brian Kelsey announced his ...
The Hill - 4d
No one’s buying Hunter Biden’s terrible paintings any more? I wonder why | Arwa Mahdawi

It’s tough being a nepo baby – especially when your daddy suddenly loses his influence. Poor Hunter Biden. His dad, who issued him an unconditional pardon as one of his last acts as US president, ...
The Guardian - 6d
Republicans want to repeal Biden’s climate legacy. Good luck with that.

President Trump has used funding pauses and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to target climate initiatives by the federal government, but will need the help of Congress to repeal the ...
The Hill - 4d
Trump Organization sues Capital One bank over account closures after Jan. 6 Capitol riot

The Trump companies accuse Capitol One of having "'woke' beliefs that it needed to distance itself from President Trump and his conservative political views."
CNBC - Mar. 7
Trump pardons convicted lawmaker once represented by the White House counsel

Trump pardons convicted Tennessee lawmaker once represented by the White House counsel.
ABC News - 4d
Biden's intelligence access to President's Daily Brief revoked, DNI Gabbard says

Other Biden officials, lawyers also had their security clearances officially revoked.
ABC News - 6d
How Trump Has Upended the Presidential Pardon

President Trump’s willingness to pardon allies has spawned a brisk market for executive clemency. Kenneth P. Vogel, a Times reporter who investigates money, politics and influence, looks at some of ...
The New York Times - Mar. 8
Trump Organization Sues Capital One for Closing Its Accounts

President Trump’s family business accused the bank of violating consumer protection laws by closing its accounts in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack.
The New York Times - Mar. 7
Trump calls for jailing his perceived opponents in Justice Department speech

Speaking from the Great Hall of the Justice Department, Trump targeted former special counsel Jack Smith and referred to Jan. 6 rioters as "hostages."
NBC News - 2d
Pardon me? Clemency for Derek Chauvin would be nuts.

President Trump is being urged by influential right-wing podcaster Ben Shapiro to pardon Derek Chauvin, the white policeman convicted of killing a black man by kneeling on his neck for nearly ten ...
The Hill - 2h
Trump rolls back over a dozen Biden-era executive orders, actions

President Trump rolled back on Friday over a dozen former executive orders and directives signed by former President Biden focused on gender, labor policies and industry regulations. Trump signed ...
The Hill - 2d
Trump’s Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum Take Effect

President Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on metal imports. The move is expected to raise costs for U.S. manufacturers of cars, solar panels and other products, potentially slowing the economy.
The New York Times - 5d
Senate Banking panel advances stablecoin bill

The Senate Banking Committee voted Thursday to advanced legislation to create a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. The movement on the GENIUS Act marks a key win for the Trump ...
The Hill - 3d
US Capitol Police chief retiring in May

U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger is retiring in early May after serving more than four decades in law enforcement. Manger, who was hired after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, ...
The Hill - 5d
Why is Donald Trump crashing the US economy? Because he’s high on his own supply of fake news | Jonathan Freedland

Addicted to Fox News and outlets even more extreme, the president finds support and justification for actions disastrous to Americans and the world. Not content with shattering the post-1945 ...
The Guardian - 2d
Gabbard says security clearances canceled for top Biden officials and others

The revocations are the latest in a campaign to punish and cut off access to people who the president alleges "weaponized" the nation's court systems against him.
CBS News - 6d
Energy Secretary Chris Wright vows to reverse Biden climate policies, says renewables can't replace natural gas

"The Trump administration will end the Biden administration's irrational, quasi-religious policies," Wright said at the CERAWeek by S&P Global energy conference.
CNBC - Mar. 10
Trump just bought a Tesla, but many other owners are selling their Musk-made EVs. What’s going on?

There are nearly 14,000 used Teslas for sale nationwide this week in a market complicated by politics.
MarketWatch - 3d
Pardons and Paybacks Are Trump’s Two Modes of Justice

Only the norms of history and the customs of decency constrain a president — or, as in this case, they don’t.
The New York Times - 6d
Trump’s Moves Are Boosting Stocks … Overseas

For years, the S&P 500 soared above the stock indexes of other countries. But since Trump’s inauguration, it has fallen 6 percent and is now trailing major markets in Europe and China.
The New York Times - 23h
The UK is reassessing its nuclear deterrent because of Trump

The first seven weeks of Trump’s second term have unbalanced fundamental strategic assumptions that the United Kingdom and Europe have relied on for decades.
The Hill - 3d
Ivory Coast is losing US aid as al-Qaida and other extremist groups are approaching

The Trump administration's sweeping cuts in foreign aid have impacted programs in northern Ivory Coast to counter the spread of al-Qaida and the Islamic State group
ABC News - 1d
Trump vents fury about his criminal cases in extraordinary speech at DoJ

In hourlong victory lap, president railed against Biden officials and their ‘bullshit’ case while boosting his lawyers. US politics live – latest updates Taking over the justice department ...
The Guardian - 2d
US turns to Denmark as it hunts for eggs despite Trump’s threat over Greenland

Danish Egg Association says US asked if it could export eggs as prices surge despite president’s promise to lower them. The United States has asked Denmark and other European nations if they can ...
The Guardian - 3d
The Republicans Pushing Trump to Save Biden’s Clean Energy Tax Credits

Despite President Trump’s rollback of climate policy, some Republicans and business leaders say clean energy can help his “energy dominance” agenda.
The New York Times - 1h
The Republicans Pushing Trump to Save Biden’s Clean Energy Tax Credits

Despite President Trump’s rollback of climate policy, some Republicans and business leaders say clean energy can help his “energy dominance” agenda.
The New York Times - 1h
Trump signs order to gut Voice of America, other agencies

Trump signed an executive order on Friday aimed at gutting the parent of U.S. government-funded media outlet Voice of America and six other federal agencies.
NBC News - 2d
Trump attacks Biden administration in rare visit to Justice Department

In a rare visit to the Justice Department, President Donald Trump lashed out at his perceived political enemies and claimed the department was weaponized against him while he was running for ...
NBC News - 2d
Svitolina grateful for Indian Wells support after Trump-Zelenskyy clash

Ukrainian upsets local hope Jessica Pegula 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 Will next play Russia’s Mirra Andreeva in quarter-finals Elina Svitolina said she had received an outpouring of support from Americans ...
The Guardian - 5d
Sam Bankman-Fried Lobbies Trump Associates in Hopes of a Pardon

Mr. Bankman-Fried’s family and allies are trying to help him escape a 25-year prison sentence for fraud related to the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange, FTX.
The New York Times - Mar. 7
Trump Allies Seek Pardons From an Emboldened White House

The new administration has created a system for awarding clemency that underscores the president’s grievances about what he sees as the political weaponization of the justice system.
The New York Times - Mar. 8

More in Politics

Trump is tackling every ‘emergency’ except the important one — climate change

While Team Trump dwells inside their bubble of false facts and alternative realities, the rest of America is experiencing a relentless succession of tragedies. The human and economic costs are ...
The Hill - 20m
HUD, Interior announce plan to use federal land for affordable housing

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner and Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced on Monday plans to identify federal lands where affordable ...
The Hill - 23m
What is Tren de Aragua, Venezuelan gang targeted by Trump for deportations?

Tren de Aragua, commonly known as TdA, is the Venezuelan gang targeted by President Trump in recent mass deportations. On Saturday, Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, the first time it’s ...
The Hill - 28m
White House says it will eliminate national monuments — then scrubs the announcement

The White House said Friday night that it would eliminate protections from millions of acres declared by former President Biden as national monuments — but later scrubbed that language from its ...
The Hill - 28m
Trump signs executive order aimed at gutting Voice of America and six other federal agencies

President Donald Trump signed an executive order to gut the parent of U.S. government-funded media outlet Voice of America and six other federal agencies. NBC News' Aaron Gilchrist reports on the ...
NBC News - 34m