*Former President Joe Biden has dismissed accusations from President Donald Trump and Republican leaders who claim his use of an autopen to sign pardons and clemency orders was done without his knowledge.
In a fiery interview with The New York Times, Biden called his critics “liars” who are trying to shift focus from their own failures. “They’re liars. They know it,” he said, addressing allegations that he was incapacitated during his final months in office. He insisted, “I made every single one of those” clemency decisions.
Biden’s administration issued a historic number of pardons and commutations, including pardons for non-violent offenders. Notably, he commuted the death sentences of 37 federal inmates to life without parole and issued preemptive pardons for family members, including his son Hunter Biden, as well as Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Biden justified these moves, citing Trump’s vindictive nature: “I know how vindictive [Trump] is.”
The autopen, a device used to replicate signatures, became a focal point of controversy. Biden explained its use, saying, “Because there are a lot of them,” referring to the volume of documents requiring his signature. He noted that the autopen is legal and has been used by other presidents, including Trump. However, the Republican-led House Oversight Committee and the Department of Justice are investigating whether Biden’s staff used the device to conceal his alleged cognitive decline.
Trump has escalated the issue, ordering an investigation into Biden’s executive actions, calling it “one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history.”
House Oversight Chairman James Comer echoed this, demanding interviews with former Biden aides like Ron Klain and Anita Dunn. A new book, “Original Sin,” alleges that Biden was not the primary decision-maker late in his term, claiming, “Five people were running the country.”
Biden firmly rejected these claims, stating, “Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency.”
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