(Credit: Perfect meme in public domain)
Internal memos obtained by Just the News show President Joe Biden’s aides believed at the beginning of his administration that he had an obligation to personally sign official presidential actions, including pardons, and chronicle how the former president later outsourced clemency decisions to then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
The memos were gathered as part of a sweeping review by the Trump White House into Biden’s use of autopen signatures for official business, an inquiry that now raises new questions about whether the former president actually attended four meetings late in his term dedicated to making clemency decisions.
Those clemency decisions included pre-emptive pardons for Biden family members as well as commutations for federal death row sentences.
No records of Biden attending meetings that resulted in clemency
The National Archives and Records Administration told the Trump White House Counsel’s office that “we did not find specific meeting notes that clearly mention or note that the President was present” for any of the four meetings, according to the documents reviewed by Just the News.
“President Biden’s decision memo on commuting federal death row sentences is unmarked, and NARA cannot find a version indicating President Biden’s approval,” the documents added.
The Office of Joe and Jill Biden did not respond to a request for comment sent through its contact page.
The Pew Research Center reported that Biden “granted more acts of clemency than any previous chief executive on record” and noted that “overall, Biden granted 4,245 acts of clemency during his four-year tenure in the White House.”
In June, President Donald Trump ordered the White House Counsel to lead an investigation into whether any senior administration officials had “conspired to deceive the public” about the former president’s mental state and exercise his authority and responsibilities.
Trump then specifically directed the investigators to probe the use of the autopen on official documents or clemency actions.
More on:
Memo: Policy started out requiring hand signature on pardon letters
Biden claims to have made clemency decisions, but passed off some to VP Harris
More doubts emerge about staff fully informing Biden on actions
Biden’s interaction with autopen managers became less and less frequent
You can read the internal memos obtained by Just the News below: