Donald Trump said all pardons issued by former president Joe Biden are ‘void’ after his Democratic predecessor allegedly used an autopen to sign his acts of clemency in office.
The president took to Truth Social in the early hours of Monday morning to sow doubt over the legitimacy of Biden’s pardons, claiming he used the mechanical device to sign documents rather than doing so by hand.
Without evidence, Trump claimed Biden failed to give consent for pre-emptive pardons issued to the nine House select committee members that investigated the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 along with “many others” granted clemency on the former president’s last full day in office on January 19.
Presidents can issue pardons (removing a punishment after a court decision) and commutations (a reduction in punishment for a crime) as they see fit for federal convictions, but not for state crimes.
Trump, who himself granted clemency to more than 1,500 January 6 criminals in January, warned that the members of the House select committee are no longer shielded by presidential pardons and should expect to be investigated, despite not being charged with any crimes.
Source: Yahoonews