President Donald Trump declared early Monday morning that Joe Biden's pardons are "VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT," suggesting that the former president did not sign them or "know anything about them."
While the potential voidance of Biden's pardons could spell trouble for Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley, members of the Biden clan, and others with troubled pasts, Trump indicated that former members of the House Jan. 6 select committee — including Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) — are his favorites to reap the whirlwind.
"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 noted on Truth Social.
Earlier this month, the Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project revealed that Biden's signature on numerous executive orders, pardons, and other documents of national consequence was apparently machine-generated. The watchdog group indicated that with the exception of Biden's announcement concerning his decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, "every document" researchers could find "used the same autopen signature."
'If in fact this has been occurring, then all those orders are void.'
"The prolific use of autopen by the Biden White House was an instrument to hide the truth from the American people as to who was running the government," Oversight Project Executive Director Mike Howell told Blaze News at the time.
Biden's cognitive decline alone may have been enough to doubt the legal legitimacy of many of the official documents issued in his name and bearing his signature. Suspicions were, however, compounded by reports of staffers and family members making decisions on his behalf; Biden's alleged admission to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) that he did not remember signing a consequential January 2024 order to pause decisions on exports of liquefied natural gas; and evidence that Biden's signature appeared on documents while he was absent — and in one instance, while on vacation.
In a recent letter demanding that the Department of Justice investigate whether "President Biden's cognitive decline allowed unelected staff to push through radical policy without his knowing approval," Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey noted, "It is black-letter law that a document is void, ab initio, when the person signing it lacks mental capacity."
Bailey added, "Staffers and the Vice President cannot constitutionally evade accountability by laundering far-left orders through a man who does not know what he is signing. If in fact this has been occurring, then all those orders are void."
'He had no idea what the hell he was doing.'
After further analysis, the Oversight Project confirmed that "the same exact Biden autopen signature" was used on the pardons for Fauci, Milley, and members of the Jan. 6 committee, as well as on the pardons for several members of Biden's family who were apparently involved in dodgy foreign deals with the former president and his felonious son Hunter Biden, and for Gerald Lundergan, the former head of the Kentucky state Democratic Party, who served as state chair for Hillary Clinton's failed 2008 presidential campaign and was convicted in 2019 of making illegal campaign contributions.
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In the wake of the Oversight Project's damning reports, a former Biden aide told the New York Post that a key staffer, who was not named, was suspected of unilaterally making decisions to sign documents as the former president's mental faculties declined. According to the aide, others in the Biden administration questioned the staffer's routine use of the autopen but refrained from speaking up.
"I feared no one as much as I feared that [staffer]. To me, [the staffer] basically was the president," said the aide. "No one ever questioned [the staffer]. Period."
Trump raised the issue of the autopen in his Friday address to the Department of Justice, calling it a "big deal."
"You don't use the autopen," said the president. "Number one, it's disrespectful to the office. Number two, maybe it's not even valid because who's getting [Biden] to sign? He had no idea what the hell he was doing."
Trump evidently became convinced of the illegitimacy of Biden's autopen-signed orders and pardons over the weekend, declaring early Monday morning, "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. In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!"
"The necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden. He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime," continued Trump.
Trump suggested further that in the case of the Jan. 6 committee members, the pardonees were "likely 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, Crooked Joe Biden!"
The president subsequently shared an image of three presidential portraits. The first and third framed images were of Trump, with the plaques below indicating his duration in office. The second image was of an autopen machine writing Biden's signature with the dates 2021-2025 marked below.
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Despite his declaration of voidance, Trump reportedly told reporters Sunday evening, "It's not my decision; that'll be up to a court."
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Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley, and others with questionable track records received controversial pardons just prior to Joe Biden leaving office.
New signature analysis conducted by the Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project indicates that the "same exact Biden autopen signature" appeared on each of these pardons.
This revelation regarding the use of an automatic signature device, coupled with evidence of Biden's diminished agency while in office and previous allegations concerning his sidelining, has prompted some critics to wonder who was actually dispensing pardons as well as about the validity of the controversial pardons.
Contrary to CNN's assertion last year that the use of the autopen was "a rarity in the Biden administration," the Oversight Project reported Thursday that nearly every executive order, pardon, and other consequential document researchers could find from Biden's presidency bore a machine-generated signature.
While other presidents, including Donald Trump and Barack Obama, have used the so-called autopen, there are indications that document signings during Biden's tenure were repeatedly undertaken while he was absent — not only in body but possibly also in mind.
The Oversight Project indicated that in one instance, Biden's oft-used autopen signature appeared on the pardons for a murderer and five other criminals that were issued while the then-president was vacationing and golfing in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The pardons all reportedly indicated that they were signed "at the City of Washington."
'The autopen findings could open up legal challenges.'
The White House acknowledged that the Federal Aviation Administration funding extension was signed in May 2024 using an autopen. It was suggested that Biden, traveling in San Francisco at the time, had sought to avoid a lapse in funding and was cognizant of this taking place.
Biden has, however, cast doubt on whether he was always in the loop when documents were being signed in his name.
The former president allegedly told House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) that he did not remember signing a January 2024 order to pause decisions on exports of liquefied natural gas. This suggestion fueled suspicions that one or more individuals in Biden's orbit had usurped presidential powers.
"The main legal question here is who was the president over the last four years," Oversight Project Executive Director Mike Howell previously told Blaze News. "That's what we are aiming to uncover. The prolific use of autopen by the Biden White House was an instrument to hide the truth from the American people as to who was running the government."
The Oversight Project emphasized on X that "WHOEVER CONTROLLED THE AUTOPEN CONTROLLED THE PRESIDENCY."
On Jan. 20, just hours before leaving the Oval Office, Biden allegedly issued a number of pardons, citing the need to protect the recipients from potential "revenge" by the incoming Trump administration.
Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff whom Trump has accused of committing "treason," nabbed a pardon, as did several members of Biden's family who were apparently involved in sleazy foreign deals with the former president and his felonious son Hunter Biden; Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, California Sen. Adam Schiff (D), and other members of the Jan. 6 committee; D.C. Metro Police officers who testified before the Jan. 6 committee; and Gerald Lundergan, the former head of the Kentucky state Democratic Party who served as state chair for Hillary Clinton's failed 2008 presidential campaign and was convicted in 2019 of making illegal campaign contributions.
'It appears staffers and officers in the Biden administration may have exploited Biden's incapacity.'
Fauci, the fifth director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also among the pardonees, received a "full and unconditional" pass for possible federal crimes going back to Jan. 1, 2014 — around the time the Obama administration supposedly halted funding for dangerous gain-of-function research.
Despite the pardon, a coalition of state attorneys general indicated last month that they still want to hold Fauci accountable for "alleged mismanagement, misleading statements, and suppression of scientific debate."
Fauci, like the others, might be more exposed than the state attorneys general may have originally thought.
After demonstrating that the signature on the pardons was identical, the Oversight Projected noted, "The autopen findings could open up legal challenges to the validity of Biden's pardons in a court of law. The U.S. Constitution requires a president be 'present' for all legal signatures."
The Oversight Project indicated that with the exception of the Democrat's announcement indicating that he was dropping out of the 2024 race, every document researchers could find bearing Biden's signature "used the same autopen signature."
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said of the watchdog group's finding, "On the plus side, we can say we lived under America's first robot president."
Howell posed the question, "What should happen to these 'pardons'?" then indicated with a brief video that they should be torn up.
President Trump's U.S. envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, stated, "Biden didn't sign the pardons."
Blaze News previously reported that Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has called on the Department of Justice to launch a full investigation into the legality of Biden's presidential actions in light of his apparent mental decline.
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"Under the 25th Amendment, his inability to make decisions should have meant a succession of power," Bailey noted in his letter. "Instead, it appears staffers and officers in the Biden administration may have exploited Biden's incapacity so they could issue orders without an accountable President of sound mind approving them."
"It is black-letter law that a document is void, ab initio, when the person signing it lacks mental capacity," added Bailey.
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Since President Trump has crammed at least 100 days of action into just a few weeks, let’s issue his preliminary 100-day report card now.
On three of the four issues central to restoring American sovereignty and values — border security, eviscerating DEI, and returning sanity to biology — Trump receives the highest possible grade. He has moved swiftly, strongly, and wisely.
Even when the administration pursues goals with which most Americans agree, it must comply with the Constitution and federal law.
When it comes to ending government’s role in censorship, he has been more cautious — but not inactive. He issued an executive order to prohibit any federal government officer, employee, or agent to “unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen” and authorize an investigation of Biden administration censorship programs. He shuttered part of the Biden censorship enterprise, and some social media platforms have curtailed their “moderation” practices. There is a lot more to do to eliminate censorship by government and government-funded organizations.
Trump receives high marks for setting in motion the policies necessary to protect Christians and Jews, curb the green agenda and restore consumer choice, and re-invigorate fossil fuel exploration and extraction. He is to be lauded for withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organization.
The administration should seek to make its policies permanent. While Democrats in the Senate will use the filibuster to block Trump’s agenda, some legislation can be moved through the budget reconciliation process, which requires only 51 votes. Settlements of Biden-era litigation also can lock in results that cannot be undone without the consent of the previously adverse parties and judges.
The Justice Department did the right thing by signaling that it will investigate officials who weaponized the department against Trump — and against Christians and conservatives. It goes too far, however, to target FBI agents who were assigned to participate in the Jan. 6 investigation unless those agents clearly broke rules or laws.
Trump’s pardons for pro-life activists wrongly prosecuted under the Freedom of Access to Clinics Act earn him an A-plus, as does his decision to drop the absurd charges against Dr. Eithan Haim, who blew the whistle on the deceptive transgender policies at the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.
As regards the Jan. 6 protestors, top marks for pardoning those who did little more than walk through the U.S. Capitol — although commutations of prison terms, rather than pardons, should have been meted out on those who committed violence that day. Trump is a man in a hurry, which is good, but in this instance, resolving convictions for violent offenders on a case-by-case basis would have been better.
The president’s out-of-the-box proposal that the United States take an ownership interest in Gaza and assist in relocating the Palestinians, many of whom would die for their hill of rubble, is vintage Trump. This won’t happen, nor should this be a U.S. responsibility. And in a Biden-like moment, Trump aides immediately walked back his pronouncements. It remains to be seen whether his outlandish idea creates negotiating leverage with Arab leaders.
By contrast, Trump’s withdrawal from the U.N. Relief and Works Agency and Human Rights Council, call to review U.S. funding for the United Nations, sanction of the International Criminal Court and its officers, embrace of Benjamin Netanyahu as the first foreign leader invited to the White House, resumption of arms shipments to Israel, designation of the Houthis as a terrorist organization, and maximum pressure campaign on Iran, receive a perfect grade.
Trump also receives high marks for ending the USAID’s radical left agenda. USAID also administers programs that advance American values. They can be managed by the State Department or a right-sized USAID.
It may be the latter, because even when the administration pursues goals with which most Americans agree, it must comply with the Constitution and federal law. The rejoinder that this is retrograde thinking of the Washington swamp won’t cut it. Accordingly, the DOGE should be auditing, making recommendations to the administration, and executing IT and operations decisions. The administration can prevail in lawsuits against the DOGE’s activities and achieve Trump’s objectives by following this prescription and by doing a better job communicating the constraints on the DOGE’s authority.
The federal government employee buyout sends a terrific message, but it may prove to be little more than a publicity stunt if most of those who accept it would have left anyway in a year or two. The proclamation ending birthright citizenship will end up at the Supreme Court. The legislative history and common sense support Trump’s position, but it may be too radical an idea for the high court to swallow.
Trump’s trolling about making Canada the 51ststate has run its course. Threatening Greenland and Denmark must stop. Though Panama may have breached its treaty with the United States and Chinese involvement is threatening our national security, more diplomatic deftness about next steps would be productive.
Trump must end Canadian, Chinese, and European Union barriers to U.S. investments and exports, as well as EU efforts to impose ESG and other European policies on the global operations of U.S. companies. If it takes tariffs to achieve that goal, bring on the tariffs.
It is cruel to require overseas federal workers to return home within just 30 days. Trump’s termination of security details for Mike Pompeo, his top aide Brian Hook, and John Bolton is shameful and should be reversed. This is the only F on his report card.
In sum, Trump has made extraordinary progress. If he stays on this policy path and makes a few adjustments in messaging and implementation, the administration ultimately will prevail against most legal challenges, and Trump will be one of the most consequential presidents in U.S. history.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.
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