Breaking: What Is Autopen? Trump Declares Biden Jan 6 Pardons ‘Void, Vacant’ Because They Were Signed With It….See More

President Donald Trump has renewed his attacks on former President Joe Biden and the committee that investigated Trump for his role in the insurrection of January 6, 2021. Specifically, Trump has stated that Biden’s pardons of the Jan. 6 committee members are invalid for an unusual reason: the device Biden used to sign the documents.

Trump declares Biden pardons ‘VOID’ because of Autopen use, which is valid

In a Monday morning post on Trump’s Truth Social platform, the president declared, “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,” referring to an electronic signature sometimes used instead of a physical pen. Trump further claimed that Biden “knew nothing about” the pardons, implying that other people

had signed the documents on Biden’s behalf. According to Newsweek, numerous presidents, starting with Thomas Jefferson and including Trump, have used mechanical devices to sign documents, and the Department of Justice has upheld the use of these devices as valid.

Conspiracy theories about the Biden White House persist
Trump’s accusations concerning the pardons continue a series of questions about Biden’s age and competence that became an issue during the 2024 presidential campaign, ultimately causing him to drop out of the race in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris.

Even after Biden left the race, right-wing conspiracies have accused members of his inner circle of running the White House on his behalf. In the current version of this conspiracy theory, Trump accuses members of the Jan. 6 committee of being responsible for signing their pardons and is threatening them with investigations, all without any proof for these allegations.

Biden pardoned targets of right-wing anger
Trump is using the Autopen speculation to try and undo several pardons that Biden issued in his final days in office, including pardoning the congressional members and staff of the select committee that investigated Trump for inciting the January 6 riots at the Capitol. Biden also pardoned members of his family, as well as people like Dr. Anthony Fauci, who have been the target of right-wing threats and conspiracy theories. By issuing broad-based pardons, Biden shielded these individuals from potential political-based prosecution by the current administration.

The fact that Trump is still attempting to go after the Jan. 6 committee even after their pardons while making up new unfounded allegations against them demonstrates the concern that Biden had when he issued the pardons. While Trump has no legal basis for invalidating these pardons, he won’t be dropping his grudge against his political critics soon.