Former President Joe Biden shared with the New York Times that he permitted his staff to utilize his autopen because he tends to be quite generous with people.
In his first interview about the Trump administration’s inquiry regarding his use of the autopen, Biden discussed how he signed various documents while in office. While he personally approved all pardons and commutations at the end of his term, he indicated to the outlet that he allowed staff to use the autopen for Clementy warrants, noting the sheer volume of people involved.
“I made all the decisions,” Biden told the Times regarding the 25 pardons and commutations that involved the autopen, used from December 2024 to January 2025.
Biden also touched on pardons he granted to family members and notable individuals, like General Mark A. Milley and Dr. Anthony Fauci. He personally signed off on his son Hunter Biden’s pardon, which he handled himself from December to January. He mentioned dealing with “high-profile pardons” directly.
“Everyone knew how vindictive they were, so they were aware of the implications of what they were doing,” Biden remarked, explaining that many were trying to shield their families from large legal costs.
“I consciously made all these decisions,” he added.
The Times reportedly obtained numerous emails from the Trump administration and the Justice Department as part of their investigation into the autopen’s usage during Biden’s presidency. They reviewed only part of the emails exchanged from November 2024 to January 20, 2025.
Among the emails examined, it was found that Biden’s staff had a method to verify that he verbally approved the autopen’s use by his secretary, Stephanie Feldman. Aides who attended discussions with him when he authorized its use would then draft an email summarizing those discussions to confirm the approval.
“At a January 19 meeting in the Yellow Oval Room, Biden kept his team engaged in these discussions until almost 10 PM,” according to sources familiar with the meeting details.
The email evidence showed that an aide sent a summary of the decisions made at that meeting, which was sent at 10:03 PM.
The NYT report noted that when Biden issued a bulk of pardons, he didn’t personally approve each name; rather, a standard procedure was followed. It was mandatory for communications to be routed through him before being sent out. One email indicated that Biden requested alterations in a press release.
In other instances, minor changes were made or names added without him being directly informed about every adjustment. His staff would finalize documents and use the autopen without his consent for each revision, a source revealed. This approach was described as routine.
Throughout his presidency, Trump criticized Biden’s use of the autopen, questioning if he was aware of the actions taken by his administration.
“Joe Biden wasn’t for open borders. He never spoke about open borders where criminals of all kinds could freely flow into our country,” Trump stated in a Truth Social post back in May. “By opening borders, it cost us hundreds of billions of dollars and put our country at risk. It was not his idea to go through the process we are currently dealing with.”
“This is treason at a high level! They did it to harm our country. We knew that no one would allow drug dealers, gang members, and the mentally unstable to flood in unchecked. Serious consequences should befall those traitors who aimed to destroy our nation, but I can’t. Make America great again!”
