Trump claims to void all documents signed by Biden, citing autopen use | Donald Trump
Donald Trump said Tuesday he was terminating all documents, including pardons, that his predecessor Joe Biden said he signed using an automatic overture — an unprecedented attempt to undo the actions of a previous president using what legal experts say is a flimsy pretext.
The autoopener is a device used to accurately reproduce a person’s signature, usually for large or ceremonial documents. It has been used by presidents of both major parties to sign letters and proclamations.
Legal scholars largely agree that the Constitution does not require a president to physically sign many documents, including pardons, with his bare hands to make them legally enforceable, according to PolitiFact. Federal law also does not provide a mechanism for the president to rescind a pardon granted by a previous president.
Trump and his supporters have made various unfounded claims that Biden’s use of the device while president invalidated his actions or suggested he was not fully aware of those actions. It is unclear whether Biden used an automatic opening for pardons.
“Anyone who receives ‘pardons,’ ‘commutations,’ or any other legal document so executed, should be informed that said document has been fully and completely terminated and has no legal effect,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Before leaving office in January, Biden issued several pardons, including to family members — like his two brothers and sister — who he said he wanted to protect from politically motivated investigations. He also commuted sentences, particularly for non-violent drug offenders.
Trump’s attempt to undo his predecessor’s actions will not apply to the pardon of Biden’s son Hunter because he is known to have used a pen to sign it, according to Fox News. The outlet predicted that Trump’s action would affect Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Other key figures pardoned by Biden include retired Gen. Mark Milley, members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and former Republican Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.
Trump, known for his provocative style and dislike of his political opponents, has repeatedly targeted Biden’s use of the automatic sign to sign official documents during his presidency.
The US president also questioned Biden’s mental health and suggested that his aides, not Biden himself, were making key decisions. Biden and his former aides have denied the claims, emphasizing the president’s active role in government.
The use of mechanical copying devices for handwritten documents dates back to the polygraph tool adopted by Thomas Jefferson. George W. Bush’s Justice Department argued that automatic overture was the same as a presidential signature for legal purposes — including signing a law.
Attempting to overturn pardons based on the alleged use of an automatic opening rests on even flimsier legal grounds. Technically, the constitution doesn’t even require a pardon to be in writing, much less signed.
Yet Trump is known for taking decisive action that flies in the face of legal precedent and then letting the courts sort it out. So far, Autopens has not been the subject of serious legal challenges.
