On Monday, US President Donald Trump claimed that his predecessor Joe Biden’s pardon on the January 6 Committee which he referred to as ‘Unselect Committee’ was null and void because he signed it with Autopen.
He claimed that this means, Biden did not sign the pardons and didn’t know about them.
Biden pardoned multiple political enemies of the president pre-emptively, including members of the House panel that investigated the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riots
Trump also claimed that the pardoning documents used were not explained to Biden and that the former US President did not approve the pardons.
“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,” he said on Truth Social.
Trump insisted that this means the pardon does not protect them and they are subject to investigations.
He also claimed the committee also destroyed evidence obtained over two years of what he termed as witch hunt against him.
So what is an Autopen?
According to handwriting automation firm The Autopen Company, Autopen is a generic name for a machine that duplicates signatures using real ink. Autopen machines provide high quality signature replication with any common pen, pencil, or marker.
It is the oldest, most commonly used signing machine and has been used by universities, government agencies, and other institutions for more than 60 years.
The use of autopens is common and several other US Presidents including former President Barack Obama, JFK and Harry Truman, as well as Donald Trump himself, during his first term.
Obama became the first known president to sign legislation with an autopen, in 2011, when he signed a Patriot Act extension while he was in France.
According to the BBC, legal experts says that there is nothing in US law which says official documents signed by US presidents are not legally binding if they were signed with autopen.
A spokesperson National Archives explained that at the beginning of each presidential term the President’s signature is sent to the Federal Register.
A graphic sample is then created to be attached to all published presidential documents.
"At the beginning of each administration, the White House sends a sample of the President's signature to the Federal Register, which uses it to create the graphic image for all Presidential Documents published in the Federal Register," the BBC reports.
