On Monday morning, former President Donald Trump made a bold claim on his social media platform, Truth Social. He declared that the pardons issued by Joe Biden—including those given to members of the House committee that investigated the January 6 Capitol riot—were “VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT.”
Why? According to Trump, Biden used an autopen rather than signing the pardons by hand.
Trump went even further, saying Biden “did not know anything about them!” He also warned that those who received clemency should “fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level” and suggested that the people behind the autopen use “may have committed a crime.”
Welcome to autocracy. The Republic we have known for the last 240 years is gone. This is going to keep getting worse. Much worse. The courts mean nothing, the law means nothing, Congress is irrelevant. He is a malignant psychopath. pic.twitter.com/cyib7dEFtJ
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) March 17, 2025
An autopen is a mechanical device that reproduces a person’s signature. Multiple U.S. presidents and government officials have used them. They are not illegal or new.
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In 2011, President Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to publicly acknowledge using an autopen to sign a bill while he was overseas. Some Republicans questioned it at the time, but the Justice Department had already ruled in 2005 that autopen signatures are legally valid as long as the president authorizes them.
Additionally, Trump used an autopen himself while in office. A Fox News review found that multiple executive orders signed by Trump had identical signatures, suggesting he relied on the same device.
A separate analysis by the Daily Mail also found that 25 of Trump’s signatures across both of his terms looked exactly the same.
So if Trump argues that Biden’s autopen use makes his pardons invalid, wouldn’t that mean Trump’s own autopen-signed documents are questionable too?
Trump’s argument also goes against history. The power to issue pardons comes directly from Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, and once a president grants a pardon, it cannot be revoked.
There has never been a case in U.S. history where a presidential pardon was successfully overturned. Even if a pardon was issued under unusual circumstances, it has always remained final.
If Biden granted these pardons—whether by autopen or by hand—they legally stand.
One reason Trump might be furious is who Biden pardoned.
On his last full day in office, Biden preemptively pardoned some of Trump’s biggest political enemies—including Dr. Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley, and former Representative Liz Cheney.
These were all people Trump had openly criticized and even suggested prosecuting. By pardoning them in advance, Biden blocked Trump from taking legal action against them.
Biden also pardoned members of the House Select Committee that investigated Trump’s role in the January 6 Capitol riot. Since Trump has long called that investigation a “witch hunt,” this move likely made him even angrier.
Even though Trump declared Biden’s pardons “void,” he admitted that the courts will have the final say. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, he said: “It’s not my decision, that’ll be up to a court.”
However, legal precedent makes it clear that Trump’s argument has no historical backing.
What’s more, if Trump’s claim were taken seriously, it could backfire on him. If an autopen signature makes Biden’s pardons invalid, then Trump’s own autopen-signed executive orders could also be questioned.
That includes the more than 140 pardons and commutations Trump issued on his last day in office—including ones for Steve Bannon, rapper Lil Wayne, and multiple political allies convicted of corruption.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
