> Trump claims Biden's Jan. 6 Committee pardons are 'void' because they were done by autopen
Trump claims Biden's Jan. 6 Committee pardons are 'void' because they were done by autopen
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President Donald Trump on Monday claimed that pardons recently signed and issued by then-President Joe Biden to lawmakers and staff on the special congressional committee that investigated the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were void.
“In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!” Trump wrote on his social media site, claiming the pardons were signed by autopen.
Trump didn't offer any evidence to support his claims. Neither did the White House.
Asked if White House lawyers had told Trump he has the legal authority to undo pardons signed by autopen, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said "the president was raising the point that did the president even know about these pardons? Was his legal signature used without his consent or knowledge and that’s not just the president or me raising those questions.”
She went on to cite a recent New York Post article that quoted two unnamed Biden White House aides who speculated about alleged abuse of the autopen during his tenure.
“I think it's a question that everybody in this room should be looking into because certainly that would propose perhaps criminal or illegal behavior if staff members were signing the president of the United States’ autograph without his consent,” Leavitt told reporters at her briefing on Monday.
Pressed for evidence that Biden was unaware of the pardons, Leavitt said, “You're a reporter. You should find out.”