(Scypre.com) – In the final hours of Joe Biden’s presidency, an internal White House email has surfaced showing that then-Chief of Staff Jeff Zients approved the use of the presidential autopen to sign off on a wide-ranging list of pardons. The email, dated January 19, 2025, stated explicitly: “I approve the use of the autopen for the execution of all of the following pardons.” This decision came shortly after a meeting in the Oval Office where President Biden reportedly gave verbal consent to the full clemency package. The use of the autopen — a mechanical device that replicates a person’s signature — has reignited debate over the legitimacy and transparency of executive pardons made without direct physical involvement by the president.
Among those pardoned through this process were high-profile figures such as Dr. Anthony Fauci and General Mark Milley, along with thousands of federal inmates who received sentence commutations. While critics have questioned whether the president was truly engaged in these decisions, Biden has publicly stated that he personally approved every name on the list. In an interview with The New York Times, Biden defended the process by explaining that he hand-signed only one document — his son Hunter’s pardon — and relied on the autopen for the rest due to time constraints. He asserted, “I made every decision,” underscoring that his involvement was substantive, if not physical.
Legal experts have pointed out that the U.S. Constitution does not require a handwritten signature for a pardon to be valid. The Department of Justice and past opinions from the Office of Legal Counsel support the legality of using an autopen, and courts have consistently upheld that presidential pardons cannot be rescinded once granted. Despite this, Republican lawmakers have launched an aggressive response. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer has issued subpoenas to several former White House officials, including Zients and former legal counsel Ed Siskel, and demanded testimony from Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s personal physician, who has so far declined to testify, invoking the Fifth Amendment.
The controversy has political implications beyond legality. Former President Trump and his allies have accused the Biden administration of using the autopen to conceal what they call a “cover-up,” suggesting Biden was no longer mentally fit to fulfill his duties by the end of his term. While there is no evidence to support that claim, the optics of mass pardons issued through a mechanical signature have added fuel to partisan attacks. As congressional hearings loom and the Department of Justice considers a review, the issue has exposed lingering tension over presidential power, executive accountability, and the mechanisms used to exercise clemency in a modern era.