Re: Biden's 'autopen signature' appears on most official docs, raising concerns over who controlled the WH
Geplaatst: 21 sep 2025 22:53
Troubled former first son Hunter Biden weighed in on pardons his dad Joe Biden signed before departing the presidency, ex-White House chief of staff Jeff Zients told a House committee Thursday, according to sources familiar with his testimony.
A second source with knowledge of Zients’ transcribed Capitol Hill interview said Biden “valued input from a wide variety of advisors and experts” but always made “the final decisions” himself.
Just hours before he departed the Oval Office, Biden shielded all his family members except Hunter — including former first brother James Biden — from future federal prosecution with blanket pardons.
Zients made the final call on those clemencies after Biden gave the OK, writing in a 10:31 p.m. email on Jan. 19: “I approve the use of the autopen for the execution of all of the following pardons,” according to The New York Times.
Department of Justice senior officials and aides in the West Wing expressed confusion one day before whether sweeping sentence commutations — some of which involved violent or murderous convicts — had in fact been approved by the outgoing president, according to emails first reported by The Post.
Associate Deputy Attorney General Brad Weinsheimer wrote to members of the White House Counsel’s Office and the DOJ Pardon Attorney’s Office that he was grappling with which offenders actually qualified for clemency, given the vague wording.
A second source with knowledge of Zients’ transcribed Capitol Hill interview said Biden “valued input from a wide variety of advisors and experts” but always made “the final decisions” himself.
Just hours before he departed the Oval Office, Biden shielded all his family members except Hunter — including former first brother James Biden — from future federal prosecution with blanket pardons.
Zients made the final call on those clemencies after Biden gave the OK, writing in a 10:31 p.m. email on Jan. 19: “I approve the use of the autopen for the execution of all of the following pardons,” according to The New York Times.
Department of Justice senior officials and aides in the West Wing expressed confusion one day before whether sweeping sentence commutations — some of which involved violent or murderous convicts — had in fact been approved by the outgoing president, according to emails first reported by The Post.
Associate Deputy Attorney General Brad Weinsheimer wrote to members of the White House Counsel’s Office and the DOJ Pardon Attorney’s Office that he was grappling with which offenders actually qualified for clemency, given the vague wording.