Joe Biden has spoken out amid the scrutiny of his administration’s use of the Autopen.
Biden claimed he made every decision regarding the pardons and commutations he issued in his last months in office.
Former President Joe Biden told the New York Times that he granted his staff the use of his autopen because he “had granted clemency to so many people.”
For the first time in an interview with the NYT, Biden addressed House Republican and the Trump administration’s investigations into his alleged use of the autopen to sign various documents while in the White House. The former president told the outlet that he personally approved all of the pardons and commutations at the end of his term but had directed his staff to use the autopen on clemency warrants because “we’re talking about a whole lot of people.”
“I made every decision,” Biden told the NYT of the 25 pardons and commutations in which the autopen was used from December 2024 to January 2025.
Biden also addressed the pardons he made for prominent figures like his family or Gen. Mark A. Milley and Dr. Anthony Fauci. The former president only signed one pardon with his own hand from December to January and it was for his son Hunter Biden. The former president told the outlet that he addressed each “high-profile pardon” personally with his aides.
“Everybody knows how vindictive he is, so we knew that they’d do what they’re doing now,” Biden told the outlet, saying he wanted to shield his family from large legal bills fighting potential cases.
Joe Biden admitted that he did not individually approve the names of every pardon but instead signed off on a set of criteria that he wanted for the pardons.
Biden said he made ‘every decision’, but revealed when it came to large groups of people, he did not individually approve the names of every single person he pardoned during his final months in the White House.
Instead, he signed off on the criteria and standards he wanted to be used to determine which criminals received reduced sentences. This placed offenders into categories, some of which were issued sweeping pardons.
His decision to speak out on the issue comes after Republicans have spent months demonizing the autopen’s usage and questioning whether Biden was ever even aware of the decisions being made.
Republicans are investigating.
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