On Wednesday, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., called on former President Joe Biden to release internal records verifying whether he approved the use of a mechanical autopen to sign clemency grants amid allegations that the device was often deployed even while Biden was present in Washington, the Washington Examiner reported.
The call came at a Senate hearing focused on what Republicans call a broader cover-up of Biden’s declining mental state by his aides.
Hawley asked witness Theodore Wold about the legality and precedent surrounding autopen use, pressing for transparency. Wold served in President Donald Trump’s previous Department of Justice and currently sits on the board of the Oversight Project, a conservative watchdog group.
“For every time that Biden authorized the autopen, there should be a record of that,” Hawley said. “He should have had to have registered his personal consent.”
He warned that if Biden fails to provide proof of consent, the Senate may need to issue a subpoena.
Wold agreed, stating that the standard White House process requires documentation from the staff secretary’s office to the Oval Office showing the president’s consent to autopen use.
“There should be a record of what documents are presented to the president, when, and when he gave his consent,” Wold said.
The hearing followed revelations from the Oversight Project that Biden employed at least three separate autopen signatures — labeled autopens A, B, and C — during his presidency. The group found that the autopen was used on eight dates in 2022 when Biden was reportedly active and physically present in Washington.
On Aug. 3, 2022, for example, Biden hand-signed several bills but used the autopen to authorize an executive order concerning abortion access.
“If you want an answer to the question ‘Did Joe Biden actually assent to the use of the autopen?’ … There should be a record of it. This is a binary question,” Hawley said. “I call on President [Joe] Biden … release the documents.”
He continued: “Did Joe Biden actually consent to the use of the autopen and all of the people he pardoned? He granted clemency to murderers, drug dealers, child rapists. Let’s find out.”
Last Dec. 12, Biden issued what the White House described as the largest single-day clemency action in modern U.S. history, commuting 1,499 sentences and pardoning 39 people. That same month, he commuted 37 of 40 federal death row sentences.
Republicans have also criticized Biden’s pardons of family members, including his son Hunter Biden, and the preemptive pardons of his brothers, James and Francis.
Other clemency recipients included former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and retired Gen. Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Republicans argue that Biden’s blanket pardons of close associates represent a serious abuse of presidential pardon power.
Earlier this month, Trump urged the Department of Justice to investigate Biden’s use of the autopen, while the House Oversight Committee is conducting its own inquiry into Biden’s mental fitness.
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