HomeHeadlines That MatterPresidents have used autopens for decades. Now Trump objects to Biden’s use...

Presidents have used autopens for decades. Now Trump objects to Biden’s use of one

Source: AP News

President Donald Trump claimed Monday that pardons recently issued by Joe Biden to lawmakers and staff on the congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot have no force because, Trump says, the-then president signed them with an autopen instead of by his own hand.

“In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!” Trump wrote on his social media site. Trump didn’t offer any evidence to support his claims. Nor did the White House.

Trump asserted in his all-caps post that the pardons are void and have no effect in his estimation. But presidents have broad authority to pardon or commute the sentences of whomever they please, the Constitution doesn’t specify that pardons must be in writing and autopen signatures have been used before for substantive actions by presidents.

A representative for Biden declined comment.

WHAT IS AN AUTOPEN?

An autopen is a mechanical device that is used to replicate a person’s authentic signature. A pen or other writing implement is held by an arm of the machine, which reproduces a signature after a writing sample has been fed to it. Presidents, including Trump, have used them for decades. Autopens aren’t the same as an old-fashioned ink pad and rubber stamp or the electronic signatures used on PDF documents.

WHY IS IT SUDDENLY AN ISSUE?

The Oversight Project at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank recently said its analysis of thousands of pages of documents bearing Biden’s signature found that most were by autopen, including pardons. Conservative media have amplified the claims, which have been picked up by Trump. He has commented for several days running about Biden’s autopen use.

Mike Howell, the project’s executive director, said in an interview that his team is scrutinizing Biden’s pardons because that power lies only with the president under the Constitution and can’t be delegated to another person or a machine. Howell said some of Biden’s pardon papers also specify they were signed in Washington on days when he was elsewhere.

SourceAP News

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