Former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. is intensifying his defense against growing Republican allegations that he was not fully aware of — or cognitively fit to oversee — the sweeping clemency actions issued at the end of his term. In a phone interview with The New York Times, Biden insisted, “I made every decision,” directly rebutting claims that high-profile pardons — including those for his son Hunter Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and Gen. Mark Milley — were executed by staff using an autopen without his authorization.
But the interview also revealed a more complex reality. Biden acknowledged that he did not personally approve each individual name in the mass clemency orders. Instead, he approved overarching standards, and staff applied those criteria — often days later — to final lists, which were then signed using the autopen.
The process, now under investigation by the Trump White House, the Justice Department, and Congress, has become a flashpoint in the broader debate over Biden’s mental acuity and executive decision-making during his final months in office. Investigators are scrutinizing whether aides acted improperly, or even illegally, by using Biden’s signature — or an autopen — to carry out actions he may not have reviewed in full.
Internal White House emails obtained by the National Archives, and partially reviewed by The Times, confirm that staff relayed “oral instructions” from Biden to draft clemency “blurbs” — summaries of his supposed decisions — which were passed among aides and ultimately used to authorize autopen signatures. In at least one case, Chief of Staff Jeff Zients approved the autopen use just three minutes after receiving the final summary.
Though aides argue this was a standard procedure for high-volume clemency slates, critics — including Rep. James Comer (R-KY) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) — are framing the issue as potential fraud. Trump himself has escalated the rhetoric, claiming Biden “didn’t know what the hell he was doing,” and accusing unnamed “radical left lunatics” of running the presidency behind the scenes.
Adding to the controversy: Biden’s full pardon of Hunter Biden — the only clemency action Biden physically signed himself — and his decision to preemptively shield several individuals targeted by Trump, including members of the Jan. 6 Committee.
Biden maintains that these decisions were deliberate and rooted in concerns over political persecution. “Everybody knows how vindictive [Trump] is,” Biden said. “I consciously made all those decisions.”
Emails show Biden was actively involved in two key clemency meetings on Jan. 18 and Jan. 19, 2025 — his final days in office — where he revised certain decisions, including revoking a planned pardon for former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and granting a pardon to a South Carolina official reportedly at the request of Rep. Jim Clyburn.
Still, skepticism remains. Biden’s former White House physician invoked the Fifth Amendment when questioned by Congress. Top aides including Anthony Bernal, Stefanie Feldman, Jeff Zients, Ron Klain, and others are facing subpoenas or closed-door interviews. Many have retained legal counsel — some pro bono — from firms such as Latham & Watkins, Steptoe, and Covington & Burling.
The Trump administration has preemptively waived executive privilege on the matter, allowing Congress to access internal records without obstruction. The investigation now centers on whether Biden retained executive capacity and whether aides took undue control in his final days.
Biden has hired a new personal attorney, Amy Jeffress, as legal pressure mounts. His previous lawyer, Bob Bauer, reportedly withdrew over growing tensions related to Hunter Biden’s legal exposure.
Biden’s White House staff and lawyers are in deep trouble for their autopen nonsense. That’s the only conclusion you can come to after reading between the lines of this ridiculous New York Times attempt to defend the unprecedented use of the autopen.
A few nuggets:
There is no… pic.twitter.com/lzaV2opTyK
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) July 14, 2025
