Ex-President Donald Trump has complained about President Joe Biden signing recent pardons using an autopen, stating they are invalid since Biden himself did not sign them. Trump claimed his social media platform on Monday, saying that Biden did not know the pardons that had been issued to lawmakers and staff of the congressional committee that is probing the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
“That is to say, Joe Biden signed none of them but, better yet, did not have any knowledge of them!” Trump tweeted in capital letters. He didn’t offer proof of his claim, though. The White House also has yet to make an official comment about the claims.
What is an Autopen?
An autopen is a mechanical machine that copies a person’s true signature. In contrast with electronic signatures or rubber stamps, an autopen holds a pen in hand and re-creates the assigned signature based on a template memory. U.S. presidents have employed autopens for many years to sign documents of all sorts, including legislation, official correspondence, and military commissions. Interestingly, Trump himself utilized an autopen during his presidency.
Why Is It an Issue Now?
The controversy picked up steam after the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project asserted that its review of thousands of pages of documents signed by Biden discovered that the majority were signed using an autopen, including pardons. Conservative media outlets hyped the claims, and Trump has since repeatedly attacked Biden on the issue.
Mike Howell, the executive director of the Oversight Project, contended that the use of an autopen to sign pardons is unconstitutional. “The Constitution reserves the power to grant pardons for the president alone, and that cannot be delegated to an individual or a machine,” Howell said in an interview. He also alleged that some of the pardon documents signed by Biden indicated Washington, D.C., as the place when the president was reportedly elsewhere on those dates.
Is Trump’s Claim Valid?
Presidents are given wide discretion to grant pardons, and the Constitution does not dictate they have to be written or signed in person. The use of the autopen on official government business is nothing new, and other administrations, including Trump’s own, have used it in the interest of efficiency. Lawyers say that unless there was explicit evidence Biden wasn’t aware of or hadn’t approved the pardons, Trump’s challenge is unlikely to carry legal force.
As the controversy regarding Biden’s use of an autopen rages on, it reflects a larger partisan struggle over presidential power and executive decision-making.
