Imagine thinking you’re free and clear, only to find out someone might snatch that freedom right back—on a technicality. That’s exactly the situation for everyone who made it onto President Biden’s pardon list, thanks to Donald Trump’s latest legal hot take.
Trump kicked off his ninth week back in office with a fiery claim: Biden’s pardons are VOID because they were signed using an autopen. Yes, you read that right. The fate of some high-profile individuals could now hinge on the choice of pen.
In a classic Trump Truth Social post, he 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.”
Legal experts might be scratching their heads, considering the Constitution says nothing about whether a president must sign a pardon with a quill, a Sharpie, or even their own hand. But Trump’s argument? If Biden didn’t personally sign them, then he didn’t really know about them—and that makes them invalid.
This challenge isn’t just some theoretical debate—it puts a very specific group of people on edge:
- House lawmakers who investigated the Jan. 6 attack
- Members of the Biden family
- Anthony Fauci (because of course)
- Gen. Mark Milley (because why not?)
Trump is now calling for a full-scale investigation into the Jan. 6 committee and wants a court to weigh in on whether autopen pardons are even legit.
The real question: Can a court actually reverse a presidential pardon? And more importantly… is Biden the first president to use an autopen? (Hint: Nope. Obama and Bush did too.)
For now, everyone on that pardon list might want to hold off on celebrating. Because if Trump has his way, their clean slates might not stay clean for long.
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