Trump Investigates Biden’s Pardons from His Last Days in Office

The Justice Department under US President Donald Trump is currently looking into the pardons granted by former President Joe Biden, which include those given to family members and individuals on death row.

As per an internal email obtained by Reuters, Ed Martin, the pardon attorney for the department, informed his team that he had been “instructed to investigate” Biden’s “competence and whether others were exploiting him through the use of AutoPen or other methods.”

For those unfamiliar, an AutoPen is a mechanical device that can replicate a person’s signature. 

This is a tool that Biden is said to have utilized during his presidency, which has raised skepticism among Trump and his supporters, who argue that it undermines the legitimacy of presidential decisions.

Although there is no proof that Biden employed an AutoPen for the pardons, Martin’s investigation focuses on two primary areas: Preemptive pardons granted by Biden to five family members.

Commutations for 37 federal inmates who were granted life sentences instead of the death penalty.

Just days prior to his departure from office on January 20, Biden issued pardons to his siblings—James Biden, Frank Biden, and Valerie Biden Owens—along with their spouses. His son, Hunter Biden, was pardoned on December 1 after admitting guilt to tax offenses and facing gun-related charges.

The U.S. Constitution endows presidents with “plenary” or absolute authority to grant pardons—a fact that Martin himself recognized during a press conference on May 13: “If you use the autopen for pardon power, I don’t think that that’s necessarily a problem,” he stated, adding, “However, I still believe the Biden pardons deserve examination.”