Former President Joe Biden’s presidential pardons and his mental fitness are once again being called into question after it was revealed that a number of his more controversial pardons were signed using an autopen.
The bombshell development was revealed during a New York Times phone interview with Biden where he attempted to address claims about decisions being made behind his back during the final days of his Presidency.
“Mr. Biden did not individually approve each name for the categorical pardons that applied to large numbers of people, he and aides confirmed,” the Times reported. “Rather, after extensive discussion of different possible criteria, he signed off on the standards he wanted to be used to determine which convicts would qualify for a reduction in sentence.”
The revelation did not ease the concerns of Congressional Republicans leading a probe into Biden’s mental fitness during his Presidency, with Senator Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) claiming that his staff abused the broad directives given by the President. (RELATED: Big Beautiful Bill Ends Student Loan Program that Some Have Called Exploitative)
Some of Biden’s more controversial pardon decisions have been called into question by legislators and the media, such as a pardon of a judge who took bribes to send minors to for-profit prisons.
Georgetown law professor Randy Barnett went so far as to call the admission by Biden the ‘biggest constitutional scandal in US history’. (RELATED: Congressman Demands Accountability as Canadian Wildfires Endanger Wisconsin Residents)
Biden’s interview with the New York Times occurred against the backdrop of a broader Congressional probe into Biden’s mental acuity being led by House Oversight Chair James Comer. On Tuesday, Comer issued a subpoena to Biden’s former White House deputy chief of staff, who the Committee will hear testimony from on Friday.