President Donald Trump’s early morning rant declaring Joe Biden’s pardons as void has seen the White House walk back the unconstitutional claim.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt attempted to save face Monday afternoon, claiming that the president was just “begging the question.”
“The president was raising the point that, ‘Did the president even know about these pardons,’” Leavitt told reporters in the White House, calling Biden cognitively impaired. ”I think it’s a question that everybody in this room should be looking into."
Trump went off-the-rails early Monday morning, declaring on Truth Social that the pardons “are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT,” because his signatures were done with autopen, a device used for automatic signature signing.
The president claimed not only did Biden not sign them, but “more importantly, he did not know anything about them!”
Biden used his executive power, as stated in the U.S. Constitution, to pardon family members and the Jan. 6 Committee which investigated Trump after the Capitol insurrection. Trump, however, claimed the pardons were null since he did not use an actual pen.
“Those on the Unselect Committee, who destroyed and deleted ALL evidence obtained during their two year Witch Hunt of me, and many other innocent people, should fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level,” Trump wrote at 12:35 a.m. “They were probably responsible for the Documents that were signed on their behalf without the knowledge or consent of the Worst President in the History of our Country.”
The autopen conspiracy theory seemed to have stemmed from an X post on March 6 by the Heritage Foundation claiming that “WHOEVER CONTROLLED THE AUTOPEN CONTROLLED THE PRESIDENCY.”
“I cannot in good conscience do nothing,” Biden said at the time. “Even when individuals have done nothing wrong—and in fact have done the right thing—and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances.”
