Controversy over former President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen to issue presidential pardons has taken a new turn.
United States Pardon Attorney Ed Martin wrote on social media platform X, “The integrity of the American Pardon system requires that we examine the Biden pardons and who did what.”
“We will get the bottom of it.
“Count on us,” he concluded.
Dear Fellow Americans,
The integrity of the American Pardon system requires that we examine the Biden pardons and who did what. We will get the bottom of it. Count on us.
All the best.
Ed Martin
US Pardon Attorney— Ed Martin (@EagleEdMartin) May 19, 2025
Of course, the most important three words in Martin’s post are “who did what.”
Kentucky Republican Rep. and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer announced last week his office had identified staffers and others in the White House who he believes used this autopen machine to not just sign pardons but executive orders, as well.
An autopen is a machine that replicates a signature.
Do you believe Biden’s pardons were legitimately issued?
The implication here is that Biden’s signature was put on important executive documents in place of him actually signing, and moreover, the president did not explicitly consent to its use in these instances.
This would mean someone else was exercising the president’s executive authority.
“We’re going to bring everyone that we believe was involved in any role in the use of the autopen. We’re going to invite them to come in for a transcribed interview,” Comer said when making the announcement.
“If they won’t, then they will receive a subpoena, and they will have a full-blown deposition.
“We want to find out who was actually making the decisions in the White House during the last nine months of the Biden administration when he was clearly in mental decline,” he continued, referring to Biden’s lack of mental acuity that has been recently substantiated by leaked audio with special counsel Robert Hur from October 2023.
In March, President Donald Trump posted via Truth Social about his predecessor’s use of the autopen, writing, “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,” adding that Biden did not even know about the pardons.
Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution said, the president “shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”
There is a strong history in the autopen’s use dating back to former President Thomas Jefferson after the device what patented in 1803.
The autopen’s use in itself doesn’t seem like an encouraging path to invalidating pardons, but its use without the knowledge or consent of the president — the person the Constitution empowers to grant reprieves and pardons — does.
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