Former US President Biden defends pardons signed by autopen, says 'I made every decision'

ISTANBUL

Former US President Joe Biden stated that he had approved the extensive use of his signature applied with an autopen during the final days of his presidency, as reported by The New York Times in an interview on Sunday.

Senate and House Republicans, along with the Justice Department, are probing how Biden's age may have impacted his capacity to serve as the president.

Some lawmakers, including House Oversight Chairman James Comer, are specifically investigating whether White House officials misused Biden’s reliance on the autopen, a device that allows documents to be signed without the president’s direct involvement.

"I made every decision," Biden told the Times. He explained that he used the autopen due to the volume of clemency cases, saying: "We're talking about a whole lot of people."

In the final days of his presidency, Biden expedited shortened sentences for nearly 4,000 federal inmates. According to the Times, many of the pardons and clemency orders — including some granted to Biden family members — were executed using the autopen.

Emails obtained by the Times reveal that after a Jan. 19 meeting with senior aides, Biden’s chief of staff Jeff Zients instructed that the autopen be used “for the execution of all of the following pardons.”

Biden told the Times: “I made every single one of those ... yes, I made every decision.”

He added: “I understand why (US President Donald) Trump would think that, because obviously, I guess, he doesn't focus much.”

Comer told the US outlet Axios: “The House Oversight Committee will continue pursuing answers about this historic scandal to prevent such an abuse from happening again.”

The committee has interviewed current and former Biden aides and Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s physician, invoked the Fifth Amendment, and declined to answer questions.