Joe Biden’s presidency ended with a scandal that smells of bureaucratic overreach and questionable competence. The former president admitted to using an autopen to sign thousands of pardons and commutations, a revelation that’s sparked outrage and investigations into whether his team exploited the process, as the New York Post reports. This isn’t just sloppy paperwork -- it’s a potential betrayal of public trust.
Biden’s team leaned on an autopen to ink 25 warrants for pardons and commutations in December and January last year. One signature covered a whopping 1,500 sentence commutations and 39 pardons on Dec. 12 of last year. Three days before leaving office, another autopen flourish freed nearly 2,500 federal inmates convicted of crack cocaine offenses.
Emails reveal that then-White House chief of staff Jeff Zients approved the use of the autopen. “I approve the use of the autopen for the execution of all of the following pardons,” Zients wrote on Jan. 19. This rubber-stamp approach raises eyebrows about who was really calling the shots.
Biden insists he made every decision, claiming, “I made every decision” in a New York Times interview. But his admission that he didn’t approve every name on the clemency list undercuts that bravado. It’s a classic case of a politician wanting credit without accountability.
The autopen, managed by former staff secretary Stefanie Feldman, processed documents without Biden’s direct oversight. Staffers drafting confirmation “blurbs” weren’t even present when Biden supposedly gave the orders. This smells like a system ripe for abuse, sidestepping the gravity of presidential clemency.
President Donald Trump didn’t mince words, calling it a “crime to do that to the country” on the New York Post’s Pod Force One podcast. He has a point -- using a machine to sign off on life-altering decisions reeks of negligence. Trump’s administration used the autopen, but with strict limits to two aides, showing some respect for the process.
The Justice Department launched a probe last month into whether White House aides misused the autopen. House Republicans, led by Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, are also digging into allegations of a cover-up regarding Biden’s mental acuity. If Biden wasn’t fully in the loop, who was running the show?
Biden’s team claims he approved the standards for who qualified for clemency, leaving the details to staff. But delegating thousands of pardons to subordinates and a machine isn’t leadership -- it’s laziness. The American people deserve a president who’s hands-on, not hands-off.
On Jan. 19, emails show Biden decided to issue pre-emptive pardons to family members, including James Biden. That last-minute move, approved by Zients via autopen, looks suspiciously like favoritism. It’s the kind of self-serving act that fuels distrust in Washington.
Biden specifically pushed for a pardon for Gen. Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “We know how vindictive Trump is, and I’ve no doubt they would have gone after Mark for no good reason,” Biden told the New York Times. Protecting allies is one thing, but using an autopen to do it feels like a dodge.
Trump fired back, alleging “people took over the autopen” and got “things signed that shouldn’t have been signed.” His outrage resonates with conservatives who see Biden’s actions as undermining the presidency’s integrity. The Resolute Desk isn’t a place for shortcuts.
The White House confirmed that Ed Martin, head of an anti-weaponization working group, is investigating whether Biden was competent at the time of these decisions. If aides exploited a diminished president, it’s a scandal that demands answers. The public deserves transparency, not excuses.
Biden dismissed critics as “liars” who “know, for certain,” he was in charge. “The best thing they can do is try to change the focus,” he told the New York Times. That deflection won’t cut it when the evidence points to a White House cutting corners.
Trump’s team, by contrast, restricts autopen use to staff secretary Will Scharf and chief of staff Susie Wiles. That’s a tighter ship than Biden’s, where aides like Feldman ran the show. Accountability matters, and Biden’s operation appears to have been phoning it in.
This autopen fiasco isn’t just about sloppy signatures -- it’s about a presidency that seemed to coast on autopilot. Investigations must uncover whether Biden’s team exploited his authority or if he was simply out of his depth. Either way, it’s a stain on his legacy that conservatives won’t let slide.
