The Blubber

Former President Donald Trump asserted early Monday, without providing evidence, that pardons issued by his successor for members of the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attacks are invalid because President Joe Biden allegedly used an autopen instead of a "real pen."

On his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, “The ‘Pardons’ that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen.”

Trump also claimed that Biden was unaware of the pardons and did not approve them, suggesting that all committee members could face a high-level investigation.

However, the U.S. Constitution grants the president exclusive powers to issue pardons, with no provisions allowing a subsequent president to revoke them based on the method of signature or any other reason.

Jeffrey Crouch, a politics professor at American University and author of The Presidential Pardon Power, expressed skepticism that Trump's remarks would have any legal impact. “Biden’s pardons are highly unlikely to be revoked somehow because of the apparent use of an autopen,” Crouch told NBC News.

Both Biden and former President Barack Obama used autopen devices to sign official documents, a legally binding practice confirmed by 2005 guidance from the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel during President George W. Bush's administration. According to the guidance, "The President need not personally perform the physical act of affixing his signature to a bill he approves and decides to sign in order for the bill to become law," which includes using an autopen.

The validity of this practice has not been legally contested. Obama used an autopen for dozens of pardons in 2016, and the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that a written or signed document is not required for a presidential pardon to take effect.