Trump says he is terminating any pardons, commutations signed by Biden using autopen
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Framed portraits of US President Donald Trump flank a image of former US President Joe Biden's signature and an autopen along "The Presidential Walk of Fame" outside the Oval Office.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said on Dec 2 that he is terminating all documents, including pardons, signed by his predecessor Joe Biden using an autopen signature,
The autopen is a device used to replicate a person’s signature with precision, typically for high-volume or ceremonial documents. It has been employed by presidents of both major parties to sign letters and proclamations.
Mr Trump and his supporters have made a variety of unfounded claims that Mr Biden’s use of the device while president invalidated his actions or suggested that he was not fully aware of these actions. It is not known whether Mr Biden used autopen on pardons.
“Anyone receiving ‘Pardons,’ ‘Commutations,’ or any other Legal Document so signed, please be advised that said Document has been fully and completely terminated, and is of no Legal effect,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Legal experts contacted by Reuters were dubious.
“It’s never been thought that a president has the ability to void a prior president’s pardons,” said Professor Mark Osler at the University of St. Thomas School of Law.
“There is absolutely no constitutional or legal basis” for Trump to reverse pardons due to the use of an autopen, said Dr Bernadette Meyler, a professor at Stanford Law School.
Professor Brian Kalt at Michigan State University College of Law said in an email that the administration would only be able to challenge the validity of a pardon in court.
The court would need to agree that it is invalid, which would “require proving to the court’s satisfaction that Mr Biden didn’t authorise them.”
Representatives for Mr Biden did not respond to a request for comment.
Before leaving office in January, Mr Biden issued several pardons, including for family members who he wanted to protect from politically motivated investigations. He also commutated sentences, including for non-violent drug offenders.
Mr Trump, known for his provocative style and dislike for his political opponents, has repeatedly targeted Mr Biden’s use of the autopen to sign official documents during his presidency.
Mr Trump has questioned Mr Biden’s mental fitness and suggested that aides, not Mr Biden himself, made key decisions.
Mr Biden and his former aides have denied these claims, emphasising the president’s active role in governing.
Mr Trump’s threat related to Mr Biden’s pardons comes as he has issued his own pardon authority to an extraordinary degree.
Mr Trump on Dec 3 pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was convicted of conspiring to import tons of cocaine into the US.
Mr Trump said, without providing evidence, that Hernandez had been the victim of a witch hunt by Biden’s administration.
Mr Trump issued 70 pardons in the first 10 months of his second term and is on track to greatly surpass the number of pardons issued by his 21st century predecessors. REUTERS
